The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Navy announces striking three United States-linked vessels and three trespassing oil tankers in retaliation for earlier American attacks on Iranian tankers.

“This morning, the terrorist and aggressor US military, in a brutal act born of desperation from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, attacked three oil tankers belonging to the Islamic Republic, causing damage,” the force said in a statement on Saturday.

In response, “the fighters of the IRGC Navy targeted three oil tankers traveling along an unauthorized route through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as three vessels affiliated with the child-killing United States, in other areas,” it added.

Iran closed the chokepoint following the launch of the latest bout of unprovoked American-Israeli aggression against the country on February 28.

The Islamic Republic and the United States agreed on a 60-day reopening period as part of a Pakistan-mediated memorandum of understanding in June.

Iran devised the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), a mechanism aimed at ensuring safe and legal transit through the chokepoint, towards implementation of the understanding, but American violations forced the country to reestablish the closure.

Tehran has conditioned reopening of the waterway on realization of a number of prerequisites, including the complete lifting of the US’s illegal naval and economic blockade against the Islamic Republic, durable cessation of aggression on all fronts, including Lebanon, and clarification of the situation concerning the blockade of Yemen.

The Islamic Republic has, meanwhile, sternly warned vessels against buying into Washington’s claims that the strait remains open, asserting that any vessel attempting to transit the waterway in reliance on such claims would do so at its own risk and would be targeted.

The IRGC Navy reiterated the warning to all vessels present in the Persian Gulf and in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, urging them not to “fall for the deception of the terrorist US military, and refrain from any suspicious movement aimed at transiting unauthorized waterways.”

“Otherwise, you will be targeted,” the statement concluded.