Unauthorized vessel traffic in Hormuz halted “completely”
Shafaq News- Tehran
Unauthorized vessel movements in the Strait of Hormuz had stopped completely after navigational aid systems were destroyed, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported on Friday, citing an official close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval force.
Three oil tankers were hit on Thursday, and another vessel accused of violating restrictions was destroyed overnight, the official added, warning that if oil smuggling resumed, action against violating vessels and supporting technical systems “would be more painful.”
He also threatened that any new US military air intervention in support of oil smuggling would prompt a direct and more decisive response. “The consequences would fall on the aggressor US military.”
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said Iran was doing everything it could to drive up oil prices ahead of the US midterm elections by fabricating attacks, despite more oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz now than before the conflict began.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed that its “Steel Wall” naval blockade had prevented Iran from exporting at least $25 billion worth of crude oil and restricted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from financing proxy militias, criminal networks, and terrorism.
