Iran's IRGC bars US and Israeli allies from Strait of Hormuz

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Friday that passage is prohibited for any vessel through any corridor in the Strait of Hormuz to and from ports of countries allied with and supporting the US and Israel. 

Earlier in the day, the IRGC Navy turned back three container ships, sailing under different flags, approaching the corridor open only to authorized vessels, according to a statement published on the IRGC's official news outlet Sepah News.

The statement said the container ships decided to set sail following US President Donald Trump's "lies" that the Strait of Hormuz is open.

The IRGC Navy declared the Strait of Hormuz is closed, warning that any transit will face severe consequences, the statement added.

Trump claimed on Thursday that Iran had agreed to let 10 oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the IRGC urged civilians in regional states to immediately evacuate areas near places where US forces are staying to avoid harm.

In a separate statement on Sepah, the IRGC said that Iranian armed forces have been tasked with killing the "terrorist" forces of the United States and Israel wherever they are found.

In a post on social media platform X on Thursday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned hotels in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries against accepting US soldiers.

"From outset of this war, US soldiers fled military bases in GCC to hide in hotels and offices. They use GCC citizens as human shield," Araghchi said.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US bases and assets in the Middle East.

(Cover: Missiles near Valiasr Square next to a poster of the late Sardar Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Aerospace Forces of IRGC who was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the daily air bombardments by US and Israel in Tehran, since February 28, Tehran, March 22, 2026. /VCG)