Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy has said the two UAE-flagged tankers struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday were hit and disabled after straying into a minefield, contradicting the UAE's account that the vessels, Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, were targeted by Iranian cruise missiles.
In a statement carried by Fars News Agency, a semi-official Iranian outlet with close ties to the IRGC, the force said the tankers had switched off their navigation systems and ignored repeated warnings from the Strait of Hormuz Security Control Centre before straying onto the illegal route.
"Two violating supertankers, deceived by the United States, which turned off their navigation systems and ignored repeated warnings from the Strait of Hormuz Security Control Center, endangered shipping in that area and chose to pass through a minefield. These vessels were hit and disabled," the statement said.
The IRGC accused Washington of attempting to "provoke and guide" vessels through the route, describing the US as "the American child-killing army" that had "not learned from its repeated failures."
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The statement, addressed to "the valiant and faithful people of Iran," said the IRGC Navy remained "steadfast in upholding the rights of the Iranian nation" in the strait, and warned that cooperation with "the aggressor enemy" would only bring "regret, damage and delays", along with risks of a global energy crisis.
The IRGC's version stands in direct contrast to the account given earlier by the UAE Ministry of Defence, which said the tankers had been "targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles" while transiting the strait's southern shipping lane within Omani territorial waters.
The UAE said the attack killed one Indian crew member and injured eight others, and described it as "a serious violation and a clear breach of international law."
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