The war of words and claims continued after several days of relative calm, with no vessels attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is making bold claims about stopping all traffic and turning back tankers, while U.S. Central Command denied the claims that two Iranian ships have eluded the blockade.<\/p>\n
It was being widely reported that the crude oil tanker Nora (298,414 dwt) had passed out of the Gulf. The shadow fleet vessel, which is under U.S. sanctions, has been dark for over 70 days. It falsely claims to be registered in Guyana with unknown management.<\/p>\n
CENTCOM issued what it called a \u201cfact check,\u201d saying the blockade is \u201cAmerica\u2019s steel wall\u201d and that the tanker had not broken through. It did not say if the vessel was confronted or if the story was a total fabrication. It, however, said that 20 commercial vessels have been redirected since the blockade resumed in mid-July, with two others disabled, and two more boarded.<\/p>\n
Wana (West Asia News Agency), which is closely aligned with the IRGC, also made the claim that an Iranian containership had become the first Iranian vessel to pass through the blockade on July 30. It claimed the Noura had broken through, moving from off Qeshm Island into international waters.<\/p>\n
The independent analysts at Windward AI also disputed that an Iranian containership had made it past the blockade. It posted a route chart showing a vessel \u201creversed course on July 30 right at the edge of the active U.S. naval blockade zone in the Gulf of Oman.\u201d<\/p>\n
The IRGC made additional claims on Friday, July 31, saying that it struck two \u201cnon-compliant\u201d tankers and turned back four others from the Strait of Hormuz. No details or names of vessels were provided, and the claims were not independently verified by UK Maritime Trade Operations or others.<\/p>\n
The Iranians blamed CENTCOM and the United States, which the IRGC said had \u201cmisled\u201d the vessels. Iran said the tankers were on an \u201cundeclared route.\u201d It further asserted the tankers were being escorted from the air by U.S. forces. It claimed that after it struck the first two tankers, which then halted their transit, four other tankers reversed course back deeper into the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An Iranian-flagged, OFAC-sanctioned container vessel reversed course on July 30 right at the edge of the active U.S. naval blockade zone in the Gulf of Oman. It had been heading east, deeper into the enforcement area, then turned back toward Iranian waters instead.<\/p>\n
The vessel\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/OaO2LtstDO<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/maritime-executive.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=768,format=auto,quality=80,fit=scale-down,onerror=redirect\/images\/quick-sub-header.png\")
<\/p>\n