Two gunboats affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps opened fire on a tanker about 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman Saturday morning, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO), a monitoring agency that is part of the British Royal Navy. The agency said all crew members were reported safe.
The incident was also reported by ship tracking firm TankerTrackers.com, which said a crew member aboard the tanker radioed Iran’s military for help as it was under attack. In the distress call, the crew member claims the tanker had been given permission to cross the strait and asks Iran to allow the tanker to turn back, according to the report.
India’s External Affairs Ministry released a statement saying it had summoned Iran’s ambassador in New Delhi on Saturday night, conveying concerns over what the ministry called “a shooting incident” involving two Indian-flagged ships in the strait. India’s foreign secretary, the statement said, urged Iran’s ambassador to resume allowing India-bound ships across the strait.
One of the ships reported the incident to the UKMTO; it occurred on April 18, 2026, at 11:25 UTC, 25 nautical miles northeast of Oman.
According to the company’s security officer, the container ship was struck by an unknown projectile, resulting in damage to some of the containers on board. There are no reports of a fire on board or injuries among the crew.
Shortly before this, UKMTO reported an attack that occurred on April 18, 2026, at 09:20 UTC, 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman.
According to the tanker’s captain, two boats belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps approached the vessel without establishing radio contact, after which they opened fire on the tanker. The vessel and crew, according to available information, were not harmed.
RENEWED BLOCKADE OF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
The first announcement regarding the opening of the Strait of Hormuz was made on April 8, 2026, when Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that the strait was ‘fully open’ to all commercial vessels following the start of the ceasefire in Lebanon, which began on April 16.
Passage was to be permitted exclusively along routes agreed upon by Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization. This condition was imposed because Tehran allegedly cannot detect all the sea mines it had previously laid.
As early as April 12, Donald Trump, to exert pressure during negotiations, ordered the US Navy to begin a complete blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and to detain vessels that paid transit fees to Iran.
And on April 16, the United States expanded the naval blockade of Iranian ports to include all Iranian vessels and sanctioned vessels, regardless of their location in the world’s oceans.
According to Reuters, on April 18, some civilian vessels received a radio message from the Iranian Navy stating that the strait had been closed again and that vessel traffic was prohibited.
According to an official statement by a spokesperson for Iran’s Central Command, Iran blocked the passage of civilian vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US attempt to impose its own blockade of the strait.
The U.S. will continue its naval blockade of Iranian ports until there is a peace deal with Iran, Trump said. But on Saturday, Iran accused the U.S. of “banditry and piracy under the guise of a so-called blockade.”
“Until the United States ends its interference with the full freedom of movement for vessels traveling to and from Iran, the status of the Strait of Hormuz will remain under intense control and in its previous state,” said the statement published on Iran’s semiofficial Fars media outlet.
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