One person was killed and three others injured in an attack on an Iranian commercial vessel near Hengam Island and the Shiv Deraz coast of Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reported, citing Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB.
Qeshm Governor Hossein Amir Teymouri said the casualties occurred in an attack on the vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. Amir Teymouri described the incident as an attack by the “American terrorist enemy”.
The incident was the latest fatal episode in the strategically important waterway, where the United States and Iran have been carrying out retaliatory attacks targeting cargo vessels.
A senior official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy warned US vessels against approaching the Strait of Hormuz and challenged US President Donald Trump’s claim that the United States controls the waterway.
“If the Strait of Hormuz is under America’s control, then come forward. Bring one of your warships within 100 kilometres,” the IRGC Navy’s deputy political commander said, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency.
The official said US forces knew Iranian forces would respond if any of their vessels moved towards the area, adding that similar incidents had occurred in recent days.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, said Tehran was “not at war with Saudi Arabia” amid rising tensions surrounding the kingdom following Houthi attacks targeting Saudi Arabia.
Pezeshkian said the Houthis had “some issues of their own”, distancing Iran from the group’s activities.