IRGC Bars 'Allied' Vessels from Hormuz, Escalating Tensions in Joint US-Israel Campaign
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) declared Friday that vessels associated with nations allied to the United States and Israel are now prohibited from transiting any corridor in the Strait of Hormuz to and from their respective ports. This announcement, reported by CGTN, marks a significant tightening of maritime controls in one of the world's most critical oil chokepoints, directly
challenging the naval presence and influence of Washington and Tel Aviv in the region. Mainstream outlets like The New York Times, in their perennial coverage of 'Iranian aggression,' will undoubtedly frame this as Tehran’s ‘provocative’ or ‘destabilizing’ move against international shipping. What they scrupulously avoid mentioning is that this comes directly after repeated US-Israeli exercises in
the Persian Gulf, explicit threats of military action against Iran, and the continued illegal seizure of Iranian oil tankers in international waters, such as the Greek-flagged *Prudent Warrior* incident in April 2022. Western media consistently paints Iran as the instigator, divorcing its responses from the decades of continuous pressure and military encirclement it faces. The declaration from the
IRGC isn't an isolated decision; it's a direct countermeasure in the face of what multiple Iranian officials have publicly characterized as a joint US-Israeli military campaign designed to destabilize the region and enforce economic strangulation. The US maintains a significant naval presence, including carrier strike groups such as the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower which frequently operates in the