The United States has attacked two civilian cargo boats heading from the Omani coast to the Iranian shoreline, claiming the lives of at least five people on board, a report says.
Tasnim News Agency reported the development on Tuesday, citing a military source.
The source, meanwhile, refuted the US claims of having targeted speedboats belonging to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), saying, "Instead of targeting IRGC speedboats, the United States, in a blatant crime, opened fire on two small boats carrying civilians’ goods."
Detailing the developments on the ground following issuance of the false account by Washington, the source said, "Given that none of the IRGC’s combat vessels had been hit, local sources were consulted to verify the nature of the incident."
"The investigation revealed that US forces had [actually] attacked and fired on two small cargo boats transporting goods belonging to civilians. The boats were traveling from [the town of] Khasab, along the coast of Oman, towards Iranian shores. The attack resulted in the deaths of five civilian passengers."
The source asserted that the Americans had to certainly be held accountable for the crime.
It attributed perpetration of the crime to the enemy's acting in a "hasty and clumsy" manner due to the "inexplicable fear and nightmare" it has been experiencing since the Islamic Republic issued credible warnings against hostile and trespassing vessels in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Tensions have been rife in the Persian Gulf and around the strategic chokehold since February 28, when the United States and the Israeli regime began their latest bout of unprovoked aggression against Iran.
Iran shut down the waterway to enemies and their allies following the launch of the aggression.
It began exercising far stricter controls last month after Donald Trump announced an illegal blockade of Iranian vessels and ports in continuation of the aggression and in violation of the terms of a ceasefire the US president, himself, had declared earlier.
On Friday, the IRGC's Navy pledged to enforce Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei's "historic" directive concerning the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Ayatollah Khamenei had issued the directive a day earlier, asserting that foreigners with "ominous" plots targeting the Persian Gulf had no place in the region "except at the bottom of its waters."
Press TV’s website
