ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that its naval forces targeted two vessels in the Strait of Hormuz after they allegedly “ignored warnings,” adding that the United States and its allies “have no right” to pass through the strategic waterway. 

The IRGC claimed that the vessel Express Room, which it said was struck earlier on Wednesday, was “Israeli-owned” while flying a Liberian flag, adding that the second vessel, the Thai carrier Mayuree Naree, was targeted for “illegally insisting” on passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC’s media center said, according to the state broadcaster IRIB.

Iran has warned the US, Israel, and their allies that it would close the strategic strait after accusing Washington of striking its fuel storage facilities, despite the US claiming it has spare energy infrastructure in the conflict.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Iran must remove any potential mines it may have placed in the Strait of Hormuz “IMMEDIATELY,” warning that failure to do so would bring military consequences “at a level never seen before,” in a post on his Truth Social account.

“The Strait of Hormuz is, without a doubt or a moment of negligence, under the intelligent management of the brave naval forces of the IRGC,” the IRGC said.

“American aggressors and their partners have no right to pass through,” it added. 

IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri said every vessel intending to pass through the Strait of Hormuz must “obtain permission from Iran,” in a post on X. 

The conflict has largely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping routes and its most vital oil transit chokepoint, with Iranian forces attacking several vessels attempting to cross it.

The development has led to a sudden rise in oil and diesel prices, with almost 20 million barrels of oil per day unable to make it safely past the waterway.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said Monday that nearly 97 percent of ship transits through the Strait of Hormuz have come to a “near halt” since the beginning of March.

The waterway is one of the world’s most important shipping routes and its most vital oil transit chokepoint, having often been the site of naval confrontations between the IRGC and the US Navy.