Iran has accused the United States of killing five civilians in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming US forces attacked passenger vessels rather than boats belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as alleged by Washington.
The accusation contradicts a statement by US Admiral Brad Cooper, who claimed Central Command forces sank six IRGC vessels that allegedly attempted to interfere with a US mission to escort stranded ships. President Donald Trump later purportedly put the number at seven boats.
The US operation, dubbed “Project Freedom”, has shaken a fragile ceasefire reached between Iran and the US on April 8 and renewed fears of a return to war. Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB quoted an unnamed military commander as saying an investigation found US forces had “attacked two small boats carrying people” traveling from Khasab, Oman, to Iran, destroying them and killing five civilians. The commander demanded the US be held accountable.
The US military has not commented. The violence comes as the Trump regime seeks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blockaded following US and Israeli attacks on February 28. The closure of the vital corridor—through which roughly one-fifth of global energy supplies flow—has sent oil and fertilizer prices surging, prompting fears of a global recession and food emergency.
Iran now insists on maintaining control over the strait and collecting transit fees as reparations for destruction caused by the US and Israel. Iranian military warned commercial vessels they would “jeopardise their safety” if they attempted to cross without permission and threatened to attack US forces approaching the chokepoint.
Amid tensions, the United Arab Emirates claimed Iran launched a drone attack on one of its oil tankers and fired 15 ballistic missiles and four drones at its territory, sparking a large fire at a refinery in Fujairah and wounding three Indian nationals. A South Korean vessel, the HMM Namu, also reported an attack causing an engine room fire.
Despite this, the US military claimed two US-flagged ships transited the strait on Monday with destroyer support. The IRGC denied the claim as “baseless”, but Maersk confirmed the Alliance Fairfax exited the Gulf accompanied by the US military. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the events “make clear there’s no military solution to a political crisis”, adding that peace talks with the US were “making progress” with Pakistan’s mediation.
He warned Washington against being “dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers” and criticized the UAE. Meanwhile, the Trump regime renewed threats, with Trump telling Fox News Iran would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if it attacked US vessels. “We have more weapons and ammunition at a much higher grade than we had before,” he allegedly said.
Source: www.aljazeera.com