IRGC chief: Iran struck 14 ‘israeli’ ships in retaliation for attacks on its oil tankers

“They (the Israelis) targeted 14 of our vessels to halt our crude oil exports. At first, the identity of the attackers was unclear due to the covert nature of the assaults. Eventually, it was revealed that the Zionist regime was behind the attacks, and in response, 12 of their ships were struck.”

“After their fifth ship was struck, they raised their hands in surrender and requested an end to the naval conflict,” Salami stated on Saturday during President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters in Tehran.

He mentioned that in 2019, after Britain detained an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy responded by capturing a tanker flying the British flag in the Strait of Hormuz.

In May 2022, the IRGC naval forces seized two tankers flying the Greek flag in the Persian Gulf. This action was taken in retaliation for the United States’ confiscation of oil from an Iranian-flagged tanker off the coast of Greece, he mentioned.

Salami mentioned that Iran was experiencing a particularly challenging time due to the assassination of top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic had severely impacted the nation, economic sanctions were at their peak, and adversaries were making efforts to entirely isolate the Islamic Republic.

He stated that the IRGC employed all available resources to domestically produce coronavirus vaccines, lessen the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensure the safety of maritime routes, counteract sanctions, and combat the threat posed by foreign-backed Takfiri terrorist groups.

Salami remarked, “We have effectively closed all the breaches the enemy had made. Currently, the most secure shipping routes are dominated by vessels flying the Iranian flag.”