File image.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy on May 8 released footage of the overnight attack that targeted three United States Navy warships near the Strait of Hormuz overnight.
The attack came after the Islamic Republic accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships at the Strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas.
The U.S. strikes hit “an Iranian oil tanker traveling from Iran’s coastal waters near Jask toward the Strait of Hormuz, as well as another vessel entering the Strait of Hormuz near the Emirati port of Fujairah,” a spokesperson for the Islamic Republic Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement carried by state media.
The spokesman added that other strikes targeted “civilian areas along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik, and Qeshm Island.”
The IRGC Navy later announced that a “very large-scale and precise combined operation” was carried out in response to the U.S. strikes.
It said in a statement that various types of anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles, along with kamikaze drones equipped with high-explosive warheads, were used to target U.S. Navy warships.
The U.S .Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that three guided-missile destroyers, the USS Truxtun, the USS Rafael Peralta, and the USS Mason, were targeted near the Strait of Hormuz, but claimed in a statement that none of the warships was hit.
The videos released by the IRGC Navy revealed that a number of Hadid-110 jet-powered suicide drones were used in the attack.
The Hadid-110, which features a stealthy faceted design, is considered the Islamic Republic’s fastest suicide drone, with a speed of over 510 kilometers per hour. The drone is said to have a range of 350 kilometers, and carries a warhead weighing 30 kg. Not much is known about how the drone is guided, but it is believed to be equipped with a satellite-aided inertial navigation system.
Notably, at least one Raad-2 loitering munition was also used in the attack on the U.S. Navy warships. The munition, which features x-wings, has a range of 20 kilometers, and carries a warhead weighing 5 kg. It is also equipped with an electro-optical targeting system.
U.S. President Donald Trump boasted later on Truth Social that “great damage was done to Iranian attackers,” while repeating the claim that none of the warships was hit.
“Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers,” Trump wrote.
“They were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats,” he added.
Trump went on to threaten the Islamic Republic with further attacks unless it agrees to a deal in ongoing talks with the U.S.
“A normal country would have allowed these destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal country. They are led by LUNATICS, and if they had the chance to use a nuclear weapon, they would do it, without question,” he wrote. “But they’ll never have that opportunity and, just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their deal signed, FAST!”
On May 6, Trump announced that the U.S. will be pausing the operation it launched earlier in the week to assist vessels stuck in the Strait of Hormuz due to progress made in talks toward a permanent ceasefire with Iran.
The strategic waterway — a choke point for around 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas — has been very much under Iranian control since the start of the American-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic.
Recent reports indicate that the U.S. is nearing a one-page memorandum of understanding with Iran to end the war and lay out a framework for talks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. The latest clashes in the Strait of Hormuz may just negotiation by fire.
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