Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps News

The United States targeted Iranian and Houthi commanders and a vessel that shipped more than $100 million in Iranian commodities to businesses in China in sanctions announced on Tuesday.Mohammad Reza Falahzadeh, deputy commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), and Ibrahim al-Nashiri, a member of Yemen's Houthi militia, were designated under the sanctions, the Treasury Department said.The Iranian military has provided weapons and intelligence support to the Houthis that support the group's attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea…

Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey on Thursday in retaliation for the confiscation last year of the same vessel and its oil by the U.S., Iranian state media reported, a move likely to stoke regional tensions.The seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas coincides with weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias targeting Red Sea shipping routes."After the theft of Iranian oil by the United States last year, St Nikolas tanker was seized by Iran's Navy this morning with a judicial order ...

When the United States and 11 allies published a joint statement last week calling for an end to Houthi attacks from Yemen on Red Sea shipping, they hoped the implicit threat of force might at least reduce the intensity of fire on foreign vessels.Instead, Wednesday saw the largest single attack yet on foreign vessels, according to Western defence officials, launched seven days after the joint statement. It appeared a clear attempt to call the West's bluff, just as other tensions across the Middle East appear to be on the rise.In Iraq and Syria, U.S.

An oil tanker caught up in a dispute last year between the United States and Iran was boarded by armed individuals off the coast of Oman on Thursday and appeared to have changed course towards Iran, according to UK maritime sources.The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St Nikolas was boarded by armed intruders as it sailed close to the Omani city of Sohar, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey, and its AIS tracking system was turned off as it headed in the direction…

The United States believes that Iran is involved in the planning and execution of drone and missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi group on Israel and ships in the Red Sea, a senior aide to U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday.The comments by deputy White House national security adviser Jon Finer are among the most explicit to date by a U.S. official alleging Iranian involvement in the Houthi attacks.Finer spoke hours after the United States imposed new sanctions aimed at throttling what U.S.

The Israel-Hamas war has raised the spectre of a wider regional conflict which could embroil Iran and other regional factions.Analysts and market observers say the conflict could prompt the United States to tighten sanctions on Iran, which may spur Tehran to take retaliatory action against ships in the Strait in Hormuz.The Marshall Islands registry, one of the world's top shipping flags, last week flagged that vessels with links to Israel or the United States may face a heightened threat of attack within Israeli territorial waters…

U.S. senators from both parties are readying legislation to help the federal government enforce oil sanctions on Iran, the office of Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican, told Reuters on Thursday.Ernst is spear-heading the bill slated for release on Monday to create a $150 million Iranian sanctions enforcement fund for the Department of Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) office, with a priority on Iranian petroleum sanctions. The bill will be co-led by Senator Richard Blumenthal…

The U.S. on Friday divulged it disrupted in April a multimillion-dollar shipment of crude oil by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, seizing more than 980,000 barrels of contraband crude oil that violated U.S. sanctions.In April, Reuters reported that the U.S. confiscated cargo onboard tanker Suez Rajan, which was carrying Iranian oil at sea. The U.S. statement on Friday confirmed and fleshed out details of the story which cited sources.The "illicit sale and transport of Iranian oil" violated sanctions targeting Iran, the U.S.

U.S. and British naval forces on Sunday came to the aid of a commercial ship that was "harassed" by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in the the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy said.Civilian crew aboard the merchant vessel reported three Iranian fast-attack craft with armed personnel approached and followed their vessel at close distance while it transited the narrow strait. The radio distress call was made at 4:56 p.m. local time.U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) and U.K.

Iran has increased its attacks on commercial shipping in recent months and the Pentagon will begin to bolster defensive posture in the region on Friday, White House spokesperson John Kirby said.In the past two years, Iran has harassed, attacked or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged commercial vessels, Kirby said."Today, the Department of Defense will be making a series of moves to bolster our defensive posture in the Arabian Gulf," Kirby told reporters in a briefing.Kirby said U.S Central Command will provide details in coming days. The U.S.

A second oil tanker in a week was seized by Iran on Wednesday in Gulf waters, the U.S. Navy said, the latest escalation in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019.The Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet of the U.S. Navy said the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) at 0620 local time while passing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.The incident comes after Iran on Thursday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman called the Advantage Sweet. The Advantage Sweet is being held by Iranian authorities in Bandar Abbas, the Marshall Islands flag registry said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Navy said Thursday that Iran had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet while transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman. According to a tweet by U.S. 5th Fleet, the incident happened on April 27 at approximately 1:15 p.m. local time, when the tanker was seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN). "The oil tanker issued a distress call during the seizure. U.S. 5th Fleet is monitoring the situation. Iran's actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability.

Manama, Bahrain -- Advancing maritime domain awareness in the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. Fifth Fleet area of responsibility (AOR) is a challenging task. Yet keeping the sea lanes open is critical for the region, for the U.S. and the world.U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), U.S. Fifth Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) are all headquartered here in Bahrain, under the command of Vice Admiral Brad Cooper. U.S. Fifth Fleet oversees the operations for all U.S. naval forces in the Middle East.

The U.S. military said on Tuesday that an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy boat came within 150 yards of American warships in the Strait of Hormuz, but the situation was de-escalated with the help of audible warnings and non-lethal use of lasers.In a statement, the U.S. military said the incident took place on Dec.

The U.S. Navy said it thwarted an Iranian attempt to capture one if its unmanned surface vessels (USV) in the Arabian Gulf.While transiting international waters around 11 p.m. (local time), Aug. 29, U.S. 5th Fleet observed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) support ship Shahid Baziar towing a Saildrone Explorer USV in an attempt to detain it. U.S. Navy patrol coastal ship USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) was operating nearby and immediately responded. U.S. 5th Fleet also launched an MH-60S Sea Hawk from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, based in Bahrain.The actions taken by U.S.

A U.S. Coast Guard ship fired about 30 warning shots after 13 vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came close to it and other American Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon said on Monday.This is the second time within the last month that U.S. military vessels have had to fire warning shots because of what they said was unsafe behavior by Iranian vessels in the region, after a relative lull in such interactions over the past year.Pentagon…

A U.S. military ship fired warning shots after three vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came close to it and another American patrol boat in the Gulf, the United States military said on Tuesday.Such incidents have occurred occasionally over the past five years, though there has been a relative lull over the past year.While officials said it was too early to discern the exact motivation of the Iranian forces, they have said that generally in the past such incidents are carried out by local commanders rather than directed by senior Iranian leaders.“The U.S.

The United States on Monday imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's oil sector, including the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Tehran.The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it was slapping sanctions on key actors in Iran's oil sector for supporting the Quds Force, the elite foreign paramilitary and espionage arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."The regime in Iran uses the petroleum sector to fund the destabilizing activities of the IRGC-QF…

This article will focus on “comprehensive sanctions,” which prohibit most trade between the U.S. and the target country, with a particular focus on three countries currently targeted by comprehensive sanctions: Iran, Syria and North Korea. Similar jurisdictions which are subject to varying levels of comprehensive sanctions, including Cuba, the Crimea region (Russia/Ukraine) and Venezuela (which may be thought of as subject to “quasi-comprehensive” sanctions) will be dealt with an article later in this series.IranHistory of Iran sanctions: The first U.S.

Tankers carrying Iranian gasoline that was confiscated by the U.S. government and became embroiled in a court ownership battle have struggled to discharge in the United States, shifting course over the last week.The U.S. Department of Justice last month seized over 1 million barrels of Iranian fuel on board four privately-owned tankers bound for Venezuela, part of Washington's efforts to disrupt trade between the two sanctioned nations.The fuel has been at sea ever since, aboard two separate vessels that took the fuel in July and have zig-zagged at sea as they search for a terminal to discharge.The July seizure initially appeared a win for President Donald Trump's efforts to isolate the two nations.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had instructed the U.S. Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea, a week after 11 vessels from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came dangerously close to U.S. ships in the Gulf.Close interactions with Iranian military vessels were not uncommon in 2016 and 2017. On several occasions, U.S. Navy ships fired warning shots at Iranian vessels when they got too close.While the Navy has the authority to act in self-defense…

Eleven vessels from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came dangerously close to U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Gulf, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, calling the moves “dangerous and provocative.”While such interactions had occurred occasionally a few years ago, they had stopped, and this incident comes at a time of increased tensions between the two countries.According to the statement, the Iranian vessels approached six U.S. military ships while they were conducting integration operations with Army helicopters in international waters.At one point…

The Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1 at the centre of a dispute between Tehran and Western powers appears to have turned off its transponder in the Mediterranean west of Syria, Refinitiv ship-tracking data showed on Tuesday.The tanker which is loaded with Iranian crude oil, sent its last signal giving its position between Cyprus and Syria sailing north at 15:53 GMT on Monday, the data showed.The vessel, formerly named Grace 1, was detained by British Royal Marine commandos off Gibraltar on July 4 as it was suspected to be en route to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.Two weeks later, Iran in retaliation seized a British…