Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday claimed it had struck an American oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, hours after a US torpedo attack sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.
According to Reuters, Iranian state media reported that the US tanker caught fire following the strike. The development comes after Iran warned that the United States would “bitterly regret” the attack on its naval vessel, IRIS Dena.
The escalation follows Wednesday night’s incident in which a US submarine torpedoed the Iranian frigate in international waters off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. The attack killed at least 87 Iranian sailors, while several others remain missing.
Iranian authorities said the warship was returning home after participating in naval exercises near the Indian port city of Visakhapatnam.
According to Iranian officials, the commander of the vessel and several senior officers were among the 32 personnel rescued. More than 60 crew members are still unaccounted for.
In a statement after the incident, the IRGC warned that the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz would be under its control, signalling a potential threat to global shipping routes.
The latest developments mark a sharp escalation in the confrontation between the United States and Iran, which has already left over a thousand people dead in Iran and killed six American soldiers. The conflict has also expanded beyond the Gulf, with hostilities now reaching the Indian Ocean close to India’s maritime neighbourhood.
Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has warned the US of consequences. “The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning. Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set,” Araghchi said in an X post.