IRGC strikes US Navy's 5th Fleet HQ with missiles and drones

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced that its Aerospace Force conducted missile and drone strikes on the headquarters of the US Navy's 5th Fleet, marking the latest and most significant in a chain of retaliatory operations triggered by US military attacks on Iranian assets in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

In a formal statement, the IRGC's public relations office detailed the sequence of events that led to the strikes. In the final hours of last night, US forces struck an Iranian oil tanker in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz with an airborne projectile, damaging the vessel's engine room. In direct retaliation, the IRGC Navy struck the vessel Panaya, described as belonging to the US-linked enemy. The United States then carried out a second act of aggression, targeting an IRGC telecommunications tower on the southern part of Qeshm Island with airborne projectiles.

In response to this second attack, the IRGC Aerospace Force struck a US air base and helicopter base located in one of the regional countries, as well as the headquarters of the US Navy's 5th Fleet, using missiles and drones. The IRGC statement noted that prior warnings had been issued stating that any repeated aggression would draw a different and heavier response, and that it had acted accordingly. "These responses should serve as a lesson," the statement said.

The IRGC reiterated its warning in direct terms: "Disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will exact a heavy price from the aggressor American military." According to Mehr News, the IRGC's actions were a direct retaliation for US attacks on Iranian assets, and the group has warned of further consequences if aggression continues.