The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) reported this Sunday a new series of attacks against Iranian positions, in response to the Revolutionary Guard's offensive against a merchant ship that, according to Washington, had disregarded its orders, leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz "until further notice."
"US Central Command forces began launching the third round of attacks this week against Iran after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces brazenly attacked the M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz," the Army emphasized in a social media post.
US authorities indicated that one of the crew members of the Cypriot-flagged ship remains missing and that the offensive attributed to Tehran had caused a "fire on board and significant damage to the engine room," which would have prevented the vessel from continuing its route.
"Iran was given another opportunity to demonstrate its adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held responsible for previous attacks on commercial vessels, but it has failed again," the US forces stated.
At the same time, Washington emphasizes that it is "imposing a high cost" on Iranian forces by "degrading their capabilities to attack freely transiting vessels" through the Strait of Hormuz, in an attempt to curb further incidents in this strategic waterway.
For its part, the Revolutionary Guard announced that the Strait of Hormuz is closed to navigation "until further notice" after firing warning shots at the freighter, which allegedly failed to comply with orders issued by Iranian forces in the area.
According to Tehran's version, the M/V GFS Galaxy, sailing through the strait, had "endangered maritime safety by turning off its systems," for which it was "hit by a warning shot and forced to stop" by the Revolutionary Guard.
In parallel, Iran has escalated its rhetoric against the government of Donald Trump and its regional partners, warning them that if they "make a mistake" and "lash out at Tehran," they will "face a severe response, and new enemy bases in the region will be the target of our attacks."
These warnings come in the midst of a critical phase of talks between Iran and the United States, after several days of exchanging bombings and after Washington issued a new ultimatum for Tehran to publicly announce this Saturday the unrestricted reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
US official sources have confirmed that the United States has given Iran until this Saturday to publicly announce that it will allow free, safe, and unrestricted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.