TEHRAN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said late Monday it targeted a U.S.- and Israeli-linked vessel with a cruise missile.
In a statement published on the IRGC's official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC navy identified the vessel as MSC Sariska V, saying it was targeted in response to the U.S. military's aggressive attack on an Iranian commercial ship, named Lian Star, in the Gulf of Oman.
The navy warned that any aggression by the U.S. military in the region would be met with a "decisive" response.
Citing military authorities, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Monday the Panama-flagged MSC Sariska V was hit earlier in the day as it was sailing 40 nautical miles southeast of Umm Qasr in Iraq and sustained a "large explosion."
The Gambia-flagged bulk carrier Lian Star was reportedly struck on Friday by an AGM-114 Hellfire missile fired from a U.S. aircraft. The missile hit the vessel's engine room.
Sporadic clashes occurred between Iran and the United States in and around the Strait of Hormuz over the past few days.
The U.S. Central Command said on Sunday that the U.S. military conducted "self-defense strikes" on Iran's radars, command and control sites for drones in parts of Iran over the weekend.
The strikes were in response to "aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters," the command said on its official website.
The IRGC said Monday that it struck in retaliation the air base from which U.S. forces launched an attack on a telecommunications tower on Sirik Island, with all predetermined targets destroyed, according to Sepah News.
Also on Monday, the IRGC's navy said 15 vessels, including four oil tankers, had crossed the Strait of Hormuz within the preceding 24 hours in coordination with and after obtaining permission from its forces, the official news agency IRNA reported.
Iran tightened its grip on the strait beginning Feb. 28, when it barred passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iranian territory.
The United States has also imposed a naval blockade on the strait, preventing ships traveling to and from Iranian ports from transiting the waterway. ■
