Iran's Foreign Ministry yesterday condemned the US attacks on three Iranian merchant ships in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, calling it a violation of the UN Charter and a "war crime".
“The responsibility for the consequences of the continuation of aggressive and interventionist actions by the United States in the region will fall on the US regime and its accomplices and partners,” the ministry said in a statement.
In response to these attacks, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported that it carried out attacks against “three oil tankers sailing on unauthorized routes in the Strait of Hormuz and three vessels belonging to the US.”
The U.S. military attacked three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy warships patrolling the region's waters, U.S. Central Command said.
"Let the message to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps be clear: if they attack two of our ships, we will impose an even greater economic cost on them: we will destroy three of theirs," declared Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of Centcom.
The attacks come a day after US President Donald Trump tried to downplay the conflict, calling it a "minor issue".
The US attacks on Saturday come after Washington launched its toughest attacks in more than a month against the Islamic Republic this week, which left 19 dead, including four at a wedding held in a residential building in Kuhestak, in Hormozgan province.
