IRGC reports ‘massive fires’ on two oil tankers in Strait of Hormuz

[00:00:00]The IRGC says two vessels have caught fire after explosions in the Strait of Hormuz.

[00:00:06]In a statement, the Revolutionary Guard say two offending oil tankers which were trying to pass through the dangerous southern route of the Strait of Hormuz after being deceived by the child-killing American Army, caught fire and was stopped due to an explosion.

[00:00:22]Rescue units are currently removing the crews of these vessels from the area.

[00:00:28]Russell, can you just talk us through more of the details of these latest strikes from the US on Iran and and the claim that we heard there from the IRGC of these two ships on fire in the Strait of Hormuz?

[00:00:42]>> Indeed, so the towns there that now the United States have been attacking the targets in Iran and in the last two days particularly, when we see the pattern of these attacks, we've seen that the focus is on the ports. It is of Iran. And so Bandar Abbas was hit. It's a port. It's the largest port that the country has. Qeshm Island, so is the largest Iranian island, indeed the largest island in the entire Gulf. And again and again, that is on the list.

[00:01:17]And then Port of Sirik is hit once again. It is a port city. And then Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan, that is also a port. And then Bushehr, so has a port and that was also hit. Chabahar, all the way down to the Indian Ocean, very much close to the Pakistani border. The the the the deep sea, Iran's only deep sea port, that was also hit. And Konarak Port in Sistan and Baluchestan once again was hit. Here we have two new targets. So for the first time uh the renewed conflicts, we seeing that Fars province, in Shiraz, one of the largest city of Iran, has been attacked.

[00:02:05]And also, in Ilam province, so Abdanan, the officials are saying that the mountains areas um in in in Abdanan were were were targeted. So, what we're seeing here, on one hand, indeed, they are in the United States is attacking on the IRGC's posts, but also systemically raiding Iranian economic commercial uh sites as well. And then, as a response, the IRGC is saying that they have hit two um ships that were going through unauthorized uh route. So, when IRGC says unauthorized route, so what we should understand is that IRGC saying that we have designated some of the lanes, and any ship that is attempting to pass through that that the Strait of Hormuz needs to go through that designated lines, and with a full coordination with IRGC. So, it seems that these ships were not in coordination with IRGC, and they were following the uh the Omani territorial waters. That's why they have been attacked by IRGC.

[00:03:09]>> Okay, at the same time all of this is happening, uh can you just give us an idea of where diplomatic efforts are right now? Because the Iranian foreign minister is in Pakistan, one of the the key mediators here.

[00:03:21]>> Indeed. So, um Eskandar Momeni, now he he's in Pakistan, and he's meeting his uh Pakistani counterpart, uh Mohsin Naqvi. Mohsin Naqvi is quite an important one.

[00:03:34]Uh despite being the interior minister of Pakistan, he was a key mediator between Washington and uh Tehran and Tehran. And he's very much close to the field marshal, the strongman of Pakistan. So, uh the Iranian side is saying that this visit is mostly focusing on bilateral relations and the trade between the two countries.

[00:03:56]However, the Iranian interior minister Isak Momeni Iskandar Momeni is expected to meet the prime minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif and also the field marshal and the chief of staff Asim Munir as well. That's why there are the expectations that the talks are going to go beyond the bilateral relations. Indeed, Um Muslim Naqvi, the Pakistani interior minister, said that we hope that the talks will be also covering the regional issues. So, Esmail Baghaei, yesterday the spokesperson of the Iranian foreign minister, he confirmed that mediators have conveyed some of the proposals and there are messages being exchanged between the parties. But, as of now, that is all we have.

[00:04:45]>> Okay. Thank you so much for talking us through all of that, Resul. Resul Sardar in Tehran.