In a statement, Ebrahim Zolfaghari noted that the “aggressive, terrorist, and outlaw” US military, in violation of a ceasefire, targeted an Iranian oil tanker.
The vessel was transiting from Iran’s coastal waters in the Jask region, heading towards the Strait of Hormuz.
In a separate but simultaneous incident, another Iranian ship came under attack while entering the Strait of Hormuz, directly opposite the UAE’s Fujairah port.
Concurrent with these fresh acts of aggression, the spokesperson said that US forces, operating in coordination with certain countries in the region, launched airstrikes against civilian areas in the coastal provinces.
These aerial attacks reportedly targeted locations along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik, and Qeshm Island.
According to the statement, Iran’s response was immediate and decisive.
The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran launched a swift counterattack, engaging US military vessels east of the Strait of Hormuz and south of the port of Bandar Chabahar.
The Iranian operation inflicted “significant damage” on the American warships, he said.
The spokesperson warned that the “criminal and aggressive” US and its allies must recognize that the Islamic Republic of Iran will, as it has in the past, deliver a crushing response to any act of aggression or violation “powerfully and without the slightest hesitation.”
Earlier, media reports said Iranian naval and missile forces had delivered a swift and precise response to yet another act of US aggression in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing American vessels to flee after sustaining damage.
A senior Iranian military official confirmed to IRIB on Thursday night that, following the unprovoked attack by US military aircraft on an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, attacking enemy units in the Strait of Hormuz came under intense Iranian missile fire.
The aggressor forces suffered direct hits and were compelled to retreat in disarray.
It comes a day after US President Donald Trump suspended the so-called ‘Project Freedom’ after just 48 hours, which was aimed at forcing open the Strait of Hormuz.
It marked another humiliating retreat from the American side in the past few months.
