U.S. and Iran Escalate Hostilities in Strait of Hormuz Amid Tanker Strikes and Claims of Attacks Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed on Tuesday that its forces struck two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Gulf, framing the attacks as retaliation for the U.S. military’s recent strikes on Iranian crude oil tankers. However, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) denied the allegations, stating that no U.S. Navy warships were targeted and all Iranian attempts to attack American vessels failed. The U.S. military also confirmed it had destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers in response to the Revolutionary Guard’s ballistic missile attacks on an American warship. The conflict unfolded over the past week, with Centcom confirming that U.S. forces had targeted a total of 10 Iranian tankers. These vessels, part of a "multibillion-dollar shadow network" funding the Revolutionary Guard, were struck in the Gulf of Oman and near Iran’s Kharg Island. According to Centcom, American forces directed the crews of the targeted tankers to abandon ship before the vessels were disabled, ensuring no casualties. The U.S. military emphasized that the attacks were a direct response to the Revolutionary Guard’s missile strikes on a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer, which occurred over the past two days. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed it had captured an unmanned submersible in the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as a "modern, intelligent" underwater drone. However, U.S. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, speaking on behalf of Centcom, dismissed the claim, stating that the seized device was an older, defective model with no sensitive data or classified equipment. The drone, identified as a Dive-LD autonomous undersea vehicle developed by U.S.#strait_of_hormuz #abbas_araghchi #iran_revolutionary_guard #us_centcom #dive_ld
