TEHRAN – Iran’s armed forces warned on Saturday that strikes against American military vessels will be “more severe than before” if the United States continues its naval blockade and harassment of Iranian ships, a direct response to the U.S. claim that its forces had struck three Iranian crude oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
“To the terrorist American army, it is warned that if the evil, insecurity, and harassment of Iranian vessels and the naval siege of Iran continue, the strikes of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces against American military vessels in the region will be more severe than before, and there is the possibility of their expansion,” the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters spokesman said in a statement carried by Iranian media .
The warning came hours after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it had attacked three Iranian tankers, claiming the action was retaliation for an Iranian ballistic missile attack on two U.S. Navy warships. CENTCOM claimed an American aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple Iranian attacks with no U.S. casualties.