Iran says it targeted 4 oil-carrying ships in Arabian Gulf

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday that it had targeted four ships in the northern part of the Arabian Gulf that it said were transferring oil cargoes from one vessel to another.

The IRGC's naval forces said in a statement that "fires were still burning on the targeted ships."

It added that the four vessels had been spotted transferring oil between ships and were targeted simultaneously for sailing along "unauthorized routes."

The IRGC accused the US of "encouraging ships to cross a maritime passage planted with mines," saying this was leading to an "increase in maritime incidents."

The statement warned Washington that if the US continued with this approach, the scope of Iran's response "would also include American bases in the region."

On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran, which responded with attacks on Israel and US sites in regional countries before a ceasefire was reached in April.

The United States later launched attacks on sites in Iran amid stalled negotiations between the two countries, despite their signing a memorandum of understanding in mid-June.

Iran announced on July 12 that it had reclosed the Strait of Hormuz following the resumption of US attacks on July 8.