Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seizes two ships in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced this Wednesday the seizure of two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that they “endangered maritime security” and that they were sailing in the area “without the necessary permits”, amid tensions in this strategic route as a result of the offensive launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel against the Asian country.

The Revolutionary Guard Navy has indicated that the ships are the ‘MSC-Francesca’, which it links to Israel, and the ‘Epaminodes’, before noting that “they endangered maritime security by sailing without necessary permits and manipulating their navigation systems.”

Thus, he stressed that these ships “are trying to leave the Strait of Hormuz secretly and without authorization”, while stating that these interceptions “are in line with the rights of the noble Iranian nation in the Strait of Hormuz”, as reported by the Iranian public television channel, IRIB.

“These vessels have been transferred to Iranian territorial waters to examine their cargo and documents,” he said. “The Revolutionary Guard Navy reiterates that any action that alters the application of the rules announced by Iran for traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as any activity contrary to safe passage in this strategic route, will be constantly monitored,” he reiterated.

In this sense, he has emphasized that “those who carry out violations” of these measures will be subject to “legal” and “decisive” actions. “Disrupting order and security in the Strait of Hormuz is our red line,” he added in his statement.

Just a few hours earlier, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Agency (UKMTO), dependent on the British Navy, had indicated that two ships had been subject to shooting in recent hours around the Strait of Hormuz, incidents that resulted in no victims but with “serious” damage to the bridge of one of them, without it being clear for now if they were the same vessels.

The Iranian authorities announced on April 17 that they were ending their traffic restrictions in the area once a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon was confirmed the day before, although they assured that they were reimposing them after the president of the United States, Donald Trump, stated in response – after applauding Tehran’s step – that US forces would maintain their blockade of the road.

Trump himself announced on Tuesday the extension of the temporary ceasefire reached on April 8 following a request from Pakistan, which is mediating in the diplomatic process, although he insisted that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will remain in place. The blockade and the recent assault and seizure of Iranian ships in the area have been one of the reasons given by Tehran for not going to Islamabad, given that it considers that these actions represent a violation of the ceasefire that impedes the dialogue process.