IRGC fires at two ships in Hormuz Strait as US & Iran continue mutual threats
IRGC threatens ships to use route closer to Iranian coast
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards struck and heavily damaged two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, U.S. officials told American media outlets.
The naval observer United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a tanker reported being hit just east of Limah, Oman, causing a fire on board. A U.S. official told Axios that another ship was also hit by an Iranian vessel, adding there were no casualties.
According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the ships was the Qatar-owned liquefied natural gas tanker Al Rekayyat. The newspaper cited a recording of a radio message heard from the ship, which said, “Engine room fire and full of smoke. Unable to assess further damage. All crew are safe and mustered on the starboard side.”
The news outlet Axios reported that the U.S. is “likely to retaliate” with its own strikes against Iranian targets.
UKMTO WARNING 080-26 - ATTACK
— UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) July 6, 2026
Click here to view UKMTO Products⤵️ https://t.co/Oc7hGsk3Do#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/uK8cm9a76M
Traffic in the key international waterway had been recovering in recent weeks with reportedly between 30 to 60 daily crossings, despite two earlier attacks on ships last month.
The new strikes also came a week after a round of indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, which were meant to advance talks as part of the Memorandum of Understanding between Tehran and Washington.
The talks did not yield immediate results, and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) have since continued threatening vessels in the strait, warning them not to use a water route that the U.S. Navy cleared on the Omani side of the narrow chokepoint.
Iranian officials have also insisted they plan to charge transit fees for vessels traversing the Strait of Hormuz after the end of the 60-day period defined by the Memorandum of Understanding.
“Our missiles and drones are ready to fire at you,” the IRGC warned ships via radio over the weekend, according to the WSJ. A report by Israel’s Channel 14 News confirmed that the IRGC is forcing vessels to use the northern route closer to the Iranian coast.
On Sunday, only five ships used the southern route, according to Channel 14, while other ships changed their course after apparently receiving radio warnings.
“Iran controls the Hormuz Strait and behaves like a mafia, and as long as the U.S. won’t act against it no [regional] country will dare to confront it,” a source close to the IRGC told the channel.
“Another Iran regime violation of the MOU,” commented Jason Brodsky, policy director of the United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) think tank.
“The regime is going to keep testing and probing the U.S. in this MOU--pushing its claims of sovereignty as far as they will go while hoping to avoid a complete collapse of the MOU given its economic benefits,” Brodsky estimated in a post on 𝕏.
At Khamenei's funeral in Tehran, signs displayed Trump, Ben Shapiro, Laura Loomer, Miriam Adelson, Lindsey Graham and others with red targets over their faces.
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 6, 2026
The text read: "In the end, your heads will be severed." pic.twitter.com/2cG5by9Ogl
The new rise in tensions came against the background of escalating, open threats against U.S. officials, particularly President Donald Trump, at the week-long funeral proceedings for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
On Sunday, a poet addressed the crowd with the words, “From now on the shroud is our garment. I swear by your blood; Trump’s murder is our responsibility.”
People were also seen with placards showing Trump, along with figures seen to be his supporters, including Sen. Lindsey Graham and pundit Ben Shapiro, with the message, “In the end, your heads will roll.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on 𝕏, “Millions of proud Iranians rallied in unity to honor Grand Ayatollah Khamenei and his legacy. Neither them nor our Brave Armed Forces are moved by any threats. Para 13 of the MoU is clear: Negotiations on final Deal will not commence if threats continue. Honor your signature.”
On Monday, Trump had told reporters in the Oval Office that there will either be a deal, “or we're going to finish the job.”
.@POTUS: "Oil is is now at a level that, I think it's even lower, on a barrel basis, than it was before we started. We’ve gotten concessions, and they have to hold those concessions, but there'll be no nuclear weapon. We’re going to be getting the, as I call it, dust; the… pic.twitter.com/4t9GWOqy5S
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 6, 2026
“We freed up the [naval] blockade because we're close to maybe making a deal - I don't know, look - we're going to win one way or the other.”
“It won't be tough to finish the job,” Trump explained, “I'd rather make a deal, because I don't want to affect 91 million people. We can knock down their bridges in one hour; we can knock out their energy supply, all of those big plants that they built - big, beautiful, modern plants; they had a lot of money.”
“They don't have any money now. We haven't given them any money, but we can knock out their electricity and power-generating plants, I would say in the small part of an afternoon. Every plant will be gone, and they know that.“
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