Iranian news outlets reported on Wednesday that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked three ships attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and said it had seized two of them—a claim that has not yet been independently verified.

Semiofficial Iranian news outlets first reported that the Revolutionary Guards attacked two ships, the MSC Francesca, which is “linked to the Zionist regime,” and the Epaminodas, and took them into custody.

Shortly later, Iranian news outlets reported that a third ship, the Euphoria, was attacked by the Revolutionary Guards and ran aground near the Iranian coast.

The announcement came shortly after reports by Reuters that three container ships had been attacked in the area earlier in the day, although those reports did not mention any seizures.

According to the British maritime security agency UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), one of the ships was approached by a small IRGC boat carrying three men, who opened fire using rifles and RPG launchers. The crew was not injured, but the ship’s bridge sustained damage. The vessel was reportedly Greek-owned and sailing under a Liberian flag.

UKMTO also reported that a second container ship, sailing under a Panamanian flag, was attacked about 15 kilometers west of Iran’s coast but was not damaged, and its crew remained safe. A third ship, also under a Liberian flag, was reportedly halted in the water but not physically damaged.

The attacks come after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the U.S. is extending the ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request to allow a “fractured” Iran to form a unified proposal.

Trump also said the U.S. military would continue its blockade of Iranian ports.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)