IRGC naval commander Ali Azmayi threatens to sink US warships in Hormuz

Rear Admiral Ali Azmayi, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, threatened on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, in a television interview with state media that if US warships approach the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, they will be sunk. He said IRGC forces have begun counting down to such a confrontation.

Azmayi claimed that American warships are avoiding the strait because of their vulnerability, and that a US aircraft carrier has moved about 700 kilometres away from the waterway. He also said that the IRGC Navy controls the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, that the Sea of Oman is in the hands of the Army's navy, and that the IRGC issues permits to ships travelling to and from Iran. According to him, the Islamic Republic has published details of two cases in which it dealt with ships it calls violators.

Claims that have already been refuted

This is not the first time IRGC commanders have talked about their ability to confront the US Navy. In September the IRGC claimed it had targeted two US warships, but US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that no American warship had been hit and that all IRGC attempts to attack had failed. The IRGC's record in this waterway has been mostly harassing and seizing commercial ships rather than confronting warships directly.

Strait of Hormuz under the shadow of tanker attacks

Azmayi's threat comes as attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz have intensified. On Monday the IRGC admitted to attacking a third supertanker in two days, and on Tuesday another tanker caught fire east of the Strait of Hormuz. The United States insists on freedom of navigation and, with a naval blockade of the Islamic Republic's ports, has halted its oil exports.

The IRGC naval commander spoke of sinking American warships, even though CENTCOM had earlier refuted all of the IRGC's similar claims.