Escalation in the Gulf: Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced last night (Sunday) that they have re-closed the Strait of Hormuz - until further notice. This after they claimed that vessels violated navigation regulations set by Iran.
The official announcement stated that one of the vessels, which Tehran claims had turned off its identification and navigation systems, was hit by warning shots from the Revolutionary Guards Navy and was stopped.
According to the statement, Iran had previously warned against "interference by foreign entities" and stated that vessels would be required to travel in routes approved by it. According to the Revolutionary Guards, several vessels ignored the instructions, did not respond to radio calls, and even attempted to sail in an unapproved route.
Following this, according to the regime's announcement, a warning shot was fired.
A senior American official also confirmed that the Revolutionary Guards launched a missile at a merchant ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz - and the ship was damaged.
Iran later announced that due to "the insecurity created as a result of American intervention," the Strait of Hormuz would be completely closed to vessel traffic until further notice.
The Revolutionary Guards threatened that if the United States or Israel took advantage of the incident to launch another attack on Iran, the response would be harsher and additional "enemy" bases in the region would become targets. "If the enemy, under the pretext of this incident, which it itself caused, carries out any new act of aggression, it will be met with a severe response, and new enemy bases in the region will be marked as targets," the statement said.
