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An Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) gunboat fired on a container ship near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday morning without issuing any radio warning, causing heavy damage to the vessel's bridge, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center reported.
Iran's Tasnim News Agency said the IRGC had "enforced maritime law" on a vessel that "ignored repeated warnings," and as the IRGC issued an anniversary statement vowing it was ready to deliver "crushing blows beyond the enemy's imagination" in any new round of military conflict.
UKMTO said the incident occurred at approximately 7:55 a.m. Wednesday, approximately 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz.
"The master of a container ship reported that the vessel was approached by one IRGC gunboat, which then fired upon the vessel and caused heavy damage to the bridge. No fires or environmental impact reported. All crew reported safe," the UKMTO statement said.
The UKMTO specified that no radio warning was given before the vessel was fired upon.
Iran's Fars News Agency, described as close to the IRGC, reported Iran was "lawfully enforcing" its control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Tasnim said the IRGC had enforced "maritime law" on a container ship that had "ignored repeated warnings," a direct contradiction of the UKMTO's account that no warning was issued.
On its founding anniversary, the IRGC issued a formal statement carried by Tasnim asserting that it was "ready to deliver achievements and surprises greater than the circle of understanding and calculation of the war-mongering and treacherous enemy, using new cards on the battlefield."
The statement said IRGC missile and drone operations, described as "100 waves of combined operations," had struck enemy military infrastructure, created a "cognitive void" in the attacking front and caused the enemy to "beg for a ceasefire from proud and powerful Iran."
It declared that "the field remains open for striking the vital points and deterrence symbols of the enemy" and that the IRGC would "not allow the enemy to revive its strategic brain and heart for any show of strength."
The statement also warned that in any new round of military conflict, the IRGC would deliver "crushing and paralyzing blows far beyond the enemy's imagination on the remaining assets of the enemy in the region."
Wednesday's attack follows a series of maritime confrontations.
Last Saturday, two Indian-flagged vessels were fired upon while transiting the strait.
The U.S. military seized the Iranian container ship Touska last weekend after the USS Spruance shot out its engine room.
U.S. forces also boarded an oil tanker associated with Iran's oil trade in the Indian Ocean.
Iran has maintained that the Strait of Hormuz is under its "strict management and control" and that all vessels transiting it must coordinate with the IRGC navy through designated routes.
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