Swift Response From U.S. Military After IRGC Strikes Container Ship and Closes Strait of Hormuz
On Saturday night, according to reports, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy fired a warning shot at and struck a commercial ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran claimed it was closing the strait until further notice.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced late Saturday that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz after firing at and hitting a commercial ship in the critical waterway.
The IRGC claimed one vessel was struck after its forces fired a warning shot and ordered it to change course, Iran International reported.
It vowed any response by the US or allies would draw “severe” retaliation.
A senior US official told Axios’ Barack Ravid that Iranian forces fired on a single merchant ship in the strait and that it was hit.
This comes in the wake of President Trump and administration officials on Friday giving Iran a deadline of Saturday to say to the world that the Strait of Hormuz is open, or face certain destruction, as my colleague Joe Cunningham wrote earlier:
The Trump administration is demanding that Iran say, out loud and in public, that the Strait of Hormuz is open and that its forces will stop firing on commercial ships, and it wants that admission by Saturday.
That demand, relayed to Tehran both directly and through regional mediators, comes from three U.S. officials who briefed reporters Friday, as first reported by Axios. Iran has already broken one commitment on shipping. The administration wants proof it can be trusted to keep a much bigger one on its nuclear program.
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U.S. officials were blunt about what happens if Iran does not deliver the public statement they’re looking for. One official told Axios the administration expects Iran to say that every channel in the strait is open and toll-free, and to at least implicitly admit it made a mistake. A second official put it more directly: if that isn’t Tehran’s position by Saturday, “it is not gonna be a great day for them.”
There was also news Saturday of a potential assassination plot by Iran against Trump possibly being foiled in recent days.
Reuters also reported that the IRGC stated the "vessel...had attempted to transit along an unapproved route," necessitating the warning shot, per state-approved media reporting:
Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy said early on Sunday it had closed the Strait of Hormuz until further notice after firing a warning shot at a vessel it said had attempted to transit along an unapproved route, state media reported.
As this is a breaking story, RedState will provide updates as warranted.
Update from CENTCOM:
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.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also responded:
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