Iran halts three oil tankers in Hormuz as US strikes escalate tensions

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday that it had stopped three oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of which caught fire after an explosion.

"Three oil tankers, provoked and tempted by the child-killing American army, were trying to pass through the mine-laid route south of the Strait of Hormuz, but after one of them exploded and caught fire, the other two quickly turned around and turned back," the IRGC said in a statement quoted by Iranian state media.

It further warned that any ship "deceived" by the United States and intends to pass without Iran's consent "will suffer the same fate."

On Wednesday (Washington time), US forces launched strikes across Iran for the 12th consecutive night.

Iranian state media reported that US missiles struck locations near the cities of Ahvaz, Ramshir and Andimeshk in western Iran, a power station near the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran, and killed two people in the town of Shalamcheh on the Iraqi border, reports Xinhua news agency.

The US Central Command said the attacks were intended to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters," as the two sides vie for control of the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump warned earlier Wednesday that the United States will "bomb and destroy one bridge or power plant" each time Iran shoots at a ship in the strait.

"From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy One bridge or power plant, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

On the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on X that Iran will adopt an "eye for an eye" defence doctrine. "Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response."

“Except for the headline, no changes have been made to the story by Education Post staff.”