"Israel" had targeted 14 ships in the Red and Mediterranean Seas to prevent Iran from exporting its oil, revealed Major General Hossein Salami, the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

During a tour with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Khatam al-Anbiya military headquarters, Salami confirmed that after discovering that the Israeli occupation entity was behind the attacks on Iranian vessels, Iran responded by striking 12 Israeli ships in the northern Indian Ocean and other locations.

He pointed out that the Israeli forces requested a cessation of attacks after their fifth ship was hit.

In a related context, the IRGC commander also revealed that the UK had detained an Iranian oil tanker at Gibraltar, prompting the Iranian forces to detain a British oil tanker in return, an altercation that ended with an exchange of vessels.

Additionally, Salami mentioned that Iran responded to the seizure of two Iranian tankers in Greece with a reciprocal measure.

Touching on the country’s situation at the time, he detailed that Iran was facing multiple challenges: the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the crash of a Ukrainian plane, the overwhelming impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the imposition of severe economic sanctions aimed at isolating the Islamic Republic, reported the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

The major general stressed that, in response, the IRGC took measures to secure shipping lanes, counteract the sanctions, manage the pandemic, and combat Takfiri terrorist groups operating from abroad.

"We successfully closed all doors the enemy had opened," Salami affirmed, underlining that "today, the safest shipping lines belong to the ships on which the Iranian flag is raised."

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