Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy has warned that any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on one of the US bases in the region and enemy ships.
Iranian state TV reported the warning a day after the United States struck two Iranian oil tankers, while a tenuous ceasefire appeared to be holding.
The attacks on Friday cast doubt on the month-old ceasefire that the US has insisted is still in effect.
Washington is awaiting an Iranian response to its latest proposal for a deal to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and roll back Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.
The US military said on Friday that its forces had disabled two Iranian tankers that were trying to breach an American blockade of Iran’s ports. Hours earlier, the military said it thwarted attacks on three navy ships and struck Iranian military facilities in the strait.
Meanwhile, in the small Gulf island of Bahrain which hosts the US navy’s regional headquarters, the nation’s Ministry of Interior said on Saturday it had arrested 41 people it alleges are part of a group affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
It said investigations are ongoing to take further action against anyone affiliated with the group but did not provide further details.
Bahrain is led by a Sunni Muslim monarchy but, like Iran, its population is majority Shiite. Rights groups have said that the kingdom has used the war between Iran and the US, which bases its Fifth Fleet in the country, as an excuse to crack down on dissent at home.
Iran issued a warning to Bahrain. “Siding with the US-backed resolution will bring severe consequences. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital lifeline; do not risk closing it on yourselves FOREVER,” Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission of Iran’s parliament, said on social media.
Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and rattling world markets. The US has imposed its own blockade of Iran’s ports.
US Central Command on Saturday said its forces had turned back 58 commercial ships and “disabled” four since the blockade began April 13.
The US military posted video of the two Iranian tankers as their smokestacks were struck by an American fighter jet on Friday. Earlier in the week, an American military jet shot out the rudder of a tanker the US military said was attempting to breach its blockade.
A US strike overnight killed at least one sailor and injured 10 others aboard a cargo vessel that caught fire, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary reported. It was not clear if the ship was one of the two tankers the US acknowledged striking.
Despite the attacks, US President Donald Trump has insisted the ceasefire is holding. He also has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran does not accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear programme.
On Friday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the country was not paying attention to “deadlines” and Tehran continues reviewing a US proposal related to ongoing negotiations, according to the state-run IRNA.
A top Iranian official also said on Friday that the country’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was in “complete health” and that he would eventually appear in public.
The comments were made by Mazaher Hosseini, who is affiliated with the office of Iran’s former supreme leader, at a pro-government gathering.
Mr Khamenei has not been seen in public since the war began and the continued absence of verified images, audio, or video of him has fuelled speculation about his status. Remarks such as Mr Hosseini’s are seen by some as attempts to counter doubts that he may no longer be alive.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was deploying a warship to the Middle East to join a potential mission to protect commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The MoD said the destroyer, HMS Dragon, will “pre-position” in the region, ready to join a UK and French-led security plan once hostilities end.
France also announced this week it was moving its aircraft carrier strike group into the Red Sea in preparation for a potential mission in the strait.
Britain and France have led planning meetings involving several dozen countries on a coalition to re-establish freedom of navigation in the strait. But they stress it will not start until there is a sustainable ceasefire and the maritime industry is reassured ships can go through the strait safely.
Satellite images reviewed by the Associated Press show what appears to be an oil slick in the Persian Gulf emanating from the western side of Kharg Island, Iran’s main crude export terminal.
Images taken on Friday show the slick covering about 27 square miles and appear to show oil still leaking from the terminal, said Ami Daniel, chief executive of maritime intelligence firm Windward AI.
Mr Daniel estimated that the equivalent of roughly 80,000 oil barrels has spilled from Kharg Island since the slick was first detected by satellite images on Tuesday. It is unknown whether the spill was caused by a malfunction, an air strike or something else.
He said the spill appears to be spreading south-west and within the next two weeks could potentially reach the shores of the UAE, Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
The Pentagon declined to comment on whether the US military was tracking the spill or whether there had been recent strikes on the Iranian island. Based on the imagery taken earlier this week, the spill occurred before the most recent round of US strikes.
As tensions escalate there has been a flurry of diplomacy across the globe.
Russia’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that it, as well as Saudi Arabia, is calling for continued diplomatic efforts to reach a “sustainable, long-term agreement” to end the war.
Egyptian and Qatari top diplomats have also have reiterated that diplomacy is the sole path to finding a solution, according to a readout of a Saturday phone call between Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country has been in contact with the US and Iran “day and night” in an effort to extend the ceasefire and reach a peace deal.
