IRGC Claims Missile Strike Damaged US Warships, but Claims Remain Unverified

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired ballistic missiles at a US aircraft carrier and a Navy destroyer near the Strait of Hormuz, claiming both ships were damaged and later left the area. The IRGC said the attack followed accusations that the US vessels had harassed Iranian boats and taken part in what Tehran described as a maritime blockade.

The claim was carried by Iran’s state news agency IRNA. The IRGC said US Central Command had acknowledged that two American warships were targeted. Washington gave a different account, saying Iran launched ballistic missiles toward two US Navy vessels operating in regional waters, but that both ships successfully evaded the attacks. CENTCOM said no American personnel were injured.

The US military also said its forces later struck three Iranian crude oil tankers. Separately, the IRGC Navy said it attacked a remotely operated US military vessel that it alleged was trying to enter a section of the Strait of Hormuz that Tehran considers protected. The Guards did not say what type of attack it carried out or whether the vessel suffered damage.

The IRGC repeated its assertion that Iran controls the strategic waterway and warned that further US military action would bring a stronger response. “The United States must know that there is no other way than to leave the region and abandon its evil actions,” it said. The Guards also said earlier that it had targeted three oil tankers in the strait and three US-linked vessels elsewhere, describing those actions as retaliation for alleged American attacks on Iranian tankers. The latest claims could not immediately be independently verified. The confrontation comes amid an ongoing conflict that began after US and Israeli strikes against Iran in February, with further exchanges raising tensions across the Middle East.

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The United States must know that there is no other way than to leave the region and abandon its evil actions.