Iran said on Thursday that enemy and commercial ships entering a newly designated maritime zone without the permission of Tehran would face sanctions, according to Iranian media reports. IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi said any enemy vessel or commercial ship entering the area without coordination with the Iranian authorities would be placed on a sanction list.
“We have reached a point where if the enemy hits two or three of our targets, we respond firmly against 20 targets,” Mohibi said.
This would mean that Iran can halt the provision of maritime insurance and support services to those vessels and that they would remain barred from receiving the services even if they later transit the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Iran also confirmed that it had attacked tank ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers in the biggest wave of retaliatory attacks on shipping by both sides since the start of the war.
It also followed an incident where the IRGC said that it struck two US Navy destroyers operating in the Middle East.
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US CENTCOM denied the statement, saying that “No US Navy warship has been struck; all IRGC attempted attacks failed. Meanwhile, US forces have successfully destroyed 10 Iranian tankers in just the last week.”
The attacks on the oil tankers have sent the prices of oil, of fuels, surging, with benchmark crude futures breaching dollar 100 a barrel for the first time since July. Meanwhile, Iran confirmed that it opened a barrage of missile attack, ballistic barrage of ballistic missiles at the base used by U.S. forces. Revolutionary Guards, Iran Revolutionary Guards have sharply warned that the attacks can sharply escalate in case of any further attack. It will hit 20 targets if the enemy struck two or three targets. Iran would also soon release maps of a new enlarged off-limits zone at the sea that would extend as far as Chabahar, on the far eastern of Iran’s coast near Pakistan.
