In the name of God, the Subduer of the tyrants.

In our previous statement, we warned that foreign interference and the unlawful designation of shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz would be met with a decisive response and would disrupt the increasing flow of maritime traffic through the strait.

A few hours ago, these warnings were ignored. Encouraged by foreign actors, several vessels attempted to transit via an unauthorized route and disregarded our warnings and instructions to correct their course and proceed along the approved route.

As a result, one of the vessels—which had switched off its tracking systems, thereby endangering maritime security—was struck by a warning shot and brought to a halt.

Following this incident:

In light of the insecurity caused by unlawful foreign interference, the Strait of Hormuz is closed until further notice and until U.S. interference in the region ends, and no vessel will be permitted to transit.
If the aggressor enemy uses this incident—which it itself caused—as a pretext for further mistakes or a new attack against us, it will be met with a forceful response, and additional enemy bases in the region will be targeted.

Responsibility for the consequences of this interference rests with the American-Zionist enemy and the countries that have allowed their territory to be used for enemy bases supporting these threats.

“Victory comes only from God, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy

At 7:15 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching the third round of strikes this week against Iran after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces blatantly attacked M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz. A civilian crew member is missing and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engineroom damage.

Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed.

In response, the United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait. The strikes are being carried out at the direction of the Commander in Chief.

Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay.