Iran's IRGC claims control of Strait of Hormuz, warns ships of risk from missiles and drones

Tehran [Iran], March 4 (ANI): Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has claimed that they control the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for oil and gas, and any vessels seeking to pass through the waterway risk damage from missiles or stray drones.

Earlier, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed that it had struck an American destroyer in the Indian Ocean. The Corps said the warship had been hit using "Ghadr-380" and "Talaieh" missiles. The Ghadr missile is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) with a range of up to 2,000 kilometres, designed for precision strikes and rapid deployment.

Talaeieh is a strategic cruise missile system capable of reaching targets up to 1,000 kilometres away. It is a smart missile that can change targets mid-mission, adding to its strategic capabilities.

IRGC claimed that the destroyer was refuelling from an American tanker while it was hit, it added. The strike, the Corps concluded, triggered "widespread fires" on board both the vessels.

The IRGC has launched an operation codenamed True Promise 4 in retaliation against US-Israeli assets after they struck Iran. IRGC claims that they have struck numerous sensitive and strategic targets deep inside the occupied territories, besides staging counterattacks against many American interests throughout the West Asia region, including those lying in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.

Meanwhile, Times of Israel reported that Israel had led a covert extraction of part of its embassy staff in the United Arab Emirates after two Iranian terror plots targeting the diplomatic team were foiled in recent days. The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the evacuation, stating that "in light of concrete threats against Israeli missions in the UAE, and at the request of security authorities, non-essential staff were evacuated from the United Arab Emirates."

The Times of Israel also reported that US President Donald Trump had ordered strikes on Iran after Tehran demonstrated during three rounds of nuclear talks last month that it was not serious about giving up the capacity to produce a nuclear weapon.

Trump had described the Islamist Regime as 'crazy people' who would have used a nuclear weapon had they had access to it.

"If we didn't do what we're doing right now, you would've had a nuclear war and they would've taken out many countries because you know what? They're sick people. They're mentally ill, sick people. They're angry. They're crazy. They're sick. These people are crazy -- and if they had a nuclear weapon, they would've used it," he said in a news conference on Tuesday night (local time)

The conflict in the Middle East is now in Day 5 following the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, along with other key figures in the Persian Gulf country. In retaliation, Tehran has responded with counter-strikes targeting American military bases and other Israeli assets across the region. (ANI)

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