The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fired on at least two ships in the waters near Oman, after Tehran again moved to close the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, according to a report citing a US official — as President Donald Trump accused Iran of trying to “get cute” while warning the regime “can’t blackmail us.”
Two IRGC gunboats approached a tanker about 20 nautical miles northeast of the Gulf country around 1 p.m. local time — and opened fire unprovoked, the tanker’s master reported, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization.
Audio recordings indicate that two Indian vessels were also forced back out of the strait following the gunfire. One of those ships was an Indian-flagged VLCC supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil, according to an X account that tracks maritime travels.
The incident prompted India to summon the Iranian ambassador to express its “deep concern” and urge Tehran to immediately restore safe passage for its ship through the vital waterway.
The episode marks a dangerous turn in an already volatile standoff over one of the world’s most critical shipping chokepoints, through which roughly a fifth of global oil supplies typically pass.
Saturday’s attacks come amid confusion over the status of the narrow waterway, with Iran sending mixed signals in recent days — claiming it had reopened the strait on Friday while simultaneously warning it would shut it again in response to a US-led naval blockade.
The US blockade, launched earlier this week after diplomatic talks faltered, has put American and Iranian forces on a collision course, with American warships shadowing tankers and Tehran insisting it now controls which vessels can safely pass.
Iran’s joint military command said Saturday, “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state … under strict management and control of the armed forces.” The IRGC also warned it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
Trump, speaking at the White House, did not confirm the strait’s closure outright but acknowledged Tehran’s repeated threats to shut it down — while delivering a scathing assessment of Iran’s military and leadership.
“They wanted to close up the strait again, as they’ve been doing for years,” Trump said. “They can’t blackmail us.”
He paired that warning with an unexpectedly upbeat readout on diplomacy, saying talks were advancing despite the violence at sea.
“We have very good conversations going on. It’s working out very well,” he said. “They got a little cute, as they have been doing for 47 years. Nobody ever took them on — we took them on.”
Trump also downplayed the long-term impact of any disruption to the strait, arguing global shipping has already begun adjusting routes.
“In fact, a lot of the ships are coming up to Texas … in Louisiana,” he said. “They got used to it. Maybe they’ll keep doing it.”
US Central Command has also refrained from directly commenting on the developments, instead posting a summary of the five-day blockade in a post to Twitter.
“Since commencement of the blockade, 23 ships have complied with direction from US forces to turn around,” said the combatant command overseeing military options in the Middle East.
“American forces are enforcing a maritime blockade against ships entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas.”
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, said that the strait was “returning to the status quo,” which he had earlier described as ships requiring Iranian naval authorization and toll payment before transiting.
Seemingly in response to the attack, US Central Command shared images on social media of its patrolling helicopters and vessels “in and around the strait providing a visible presence in support of freedom of navigation.” CENTCOM did not immediately respond to The Post’s questions regarding whether the Navy would respond.
Iran claims it re-closed the strait because the US did not lift its blockade — but that was never a publicly reported condition for the shipping lane.
Trump did not directly address the reported gunfire, but broadened his remarks to revisit Iran’s long-running role in attacks on US forces, particularly during the Iraq War.
“A lot of our people have been killed,” he said. “A lot of your fellow soldiers have been killed over the years by Iran — the roadside bomb.”
He pointed to slain Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, whom he ordered killed in a 2020 drone strike, as central to those efforts.
“Soleimani — I killed Soleimani — making the explosive form penetrators,” Trump said. “He was the father of the roadside bomb, essentially.”
Trump framed his current approach as a sharp break from past administrations, arguing Tehran is now under pressure it had long avoided.
“They’ve gotten away with murder for 47 years and not getting away with it anymore,” he said.
At the same time, he suggested deep weakness inside Iran’s leadership — while stopping short of formally calling for regime change.
“They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no leaders,” Trump said. “Actually, their leaders — it is regime change. You call that enforced regime change — but we’re talking to them.”
The Saturday flare-up follows weeks of mounting maritime violence in the region. Since the conflict erupted in late February, multiple commercial ships have been struck by drones, missiles or projectiles in and around the strait.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has previously warned it would target any vessel attempting to transit the strait without its approval, a threat that now appears to be playing out in real time.
Despite Saturday’s gunfire, some ships have continued to attempt the crossing, while others remain stalled in the Gulf awaiting clearance as insurers, shipping firms and governments weigh the growing risks.
Even as tensions spike, backchannel diplomacy remains active.
Trump signaled possible near-term developments, saying, “We’ll have some information by the end of the day … we’re talking to them, and we’re taking a tough stand.”
The latest violence underscores how fragile the situation remains, even as backchannel diplomacy — including talks involving Pakistani intermediaries — continues in hopes of preventing a broader regional war.
Pakistani mediators have been working to bring the US and Iran together soon for a second round of talks, but arrangements remain in flux and neither side has formally committed.
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