IRGC claims attacks on seven ships in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz

The Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed early on Thursday 22 October 2026 that seven ships had been damaged in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz: four vessels which, according to the IRGC, were engaged in "illegal oil transfers" were hit simultaneously in the northern Persian Gulf and caught fire, and three other ships struck mines west of the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRGC said its forces had been monitoring the first four ships since Wednesday 21 October. It did not disclose the name, flag, owner or crew size of any of the seven vessels, and said nothing about possible casualties among sailors. At the time of publication, no independent maritime body and no US official had confirmed these claims.

Threat against US bases in the region

In the same statement, the IRGC warned the US military that continuing what it called "provocation" could lead to a broader response against US bases in the region. The threat came as the United States is trying to encourage commercial shipping to transit the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade of the Islamic Republic's ports remains in place.

The claim came a day after DIAR reported citizen accounts of a second strike on an IRGC missile site in Sirik, Hormozgan, an attack that Israel's Channel 12 attributed to the United States.

A record of unsupported IRGC claims

In recent weeks the IRGC has repeatedly announced that tankers struck mines it had laid itself, including on Tuesday 20 October, when it claimed three tankers had hit mines south of the Strait of Hormuz. None of these claims came with the name of a ship or any verifiable evidence.

The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said there was no evidence for the IRGC's claim of 17 October that two supertankers had struck mines. In the case of the container ship GFS Pride, the centre and US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the vessel had been hit by an IRGC projectile, not a mine; CENTCOM had earlier described similar IRGC claims as "disinformation" meant to intimidate shipping.

The mine threat in the Strait of Hormuz is nonetheless real: according to reports, the Islamic Republic laid about a dozen mines in the waterway last March; the United States says it has cleared the shipping lanes. Meanwhile, IRGC attacks targeting ships' engine rooms hit at least 23 vessels in the first two weeks of October.

The IRGC announced damage to seven ships but named none of them, and no independent body has confirmed its claim.