Iran says IRGC navy turned back US tanker near Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy forced a US tanker to turn back near the Strait of Hormuz after it attempted to cross the strategic waterway with its radar system switched off, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported early Thursday.

Citing an informed military source, Tasnim said IRGC naval forces responded quickly to the vessel and fired warning shots toward it, forcing it to retreat.

Tasnim linked the incident to explosions heard earlier near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, where Iranian media reported that air defenses had been activated.

The agency said the incident caused no casualties or material damage.

The report comes as a US official confirmed to Anadolu that the United States conducted another round of airstrikes in southern Iran, shooting down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat near the Strait of Hormuz.

"U.S. forces also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone," the official, on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday.

"These actions were measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire," the official added.

Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February. Tehran retaliated with strikes targeting Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation and was later extended by US President Donald Trump indefinitely.