Ankara: ran said Tuesday that the US military encouraged two supertankers to use an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz before the vessels were hit and disabled. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy stated that US forces had urged several vessels to attempt passage through what it described as an illegal route in the strategic waterway.

According to Anadolu Agency, the two supertankers switched off their navigation systems and ignored repeated warnings from the Strait of Hormuz Maritime Security Control Center, putting other maritime traffic at risk. The IRGC Navy reported that the vessels then attempted to use a mined route before being hit and put out of service, without specifying the nature of the strike or claiming responsibility for the incident.

The IRGC force warned that cooperation with the US and attempts to use the mined route would cause further damage, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and deepen the global energy crisis. The statement highlighted that several strategic sites, including ammunition depots and a satellite communication center at the Juffair base in Bahrain, were targeted in the subsequent wave of Operation Nasr-2.

In a separate statement, the IRGC claimed to have destroyed a Patriot radar, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet's air control radar, and a C-RAM early warning radar system in Bahrain. Meanwhile, Bahrain's Interior Ministry advised citizens and residents to remain calm and seek the nearest safe location, announcing that the warning siren had been activated.

Earlier Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Defense Ministry reported that two Emirati tankers, the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, were targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles while navigating through the southern shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz in Omani territorial waters. The ministry confirmed one Indian crew member aboard the Mombasa was killed and eight others were injured, four of them seriously. Fires broke out aboard both vessels but were later controlled.