Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has struck another oil tanker as the conflict hits another uneasy crescendo after 200 intense days of siege.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Friday they struck an oil tanker sailing under the Togolese flag in the Strait of Hormuz, state news agency IRNA reported.

Tehran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait since the United States and Israel struck Iran in late February.

The Islamic Republic wants to charge tolls for passage, attacking ships it accuses of attempting to circumvent its preferred route.

“The Togo-flagged oil tanker ‘Trend’ had been targeted and detained after a fire broke out on board,” the statement said, referring to an attempted “illegal passage” through the vital waterway.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced Thursday a “security incident in the Strait of Hormuz, (29.6 km) northeast of Khasab, Oman”.

UKMTO did not provide details about the vessel involved, and it is unclear whether it is the same vessel mentioned by the Revolutionary Guards.

Commercial vessels anchored amid haze in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The attack would add to an extraordinary toll on commercial shipping through the strategic waterway.

The International Maritime Organisation said this week it had confirmed 80 attacks on merchant vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the war began on February 28 — an average of almost three a week.

At least 22 seafarers have been killed and many others wounded.

The reported strike on the Trend was not included in that count, which ran to September 15.

The IMO has cautioned that all of the reported attacks cannot be attributed to solely Iran, with US forces also striking Iranian vessels and the origin of some projectiles remaining unclear.

The Revolutionary Guards has accused the US military of encouraging tankers to attempt the crossing and warned that other vessels trying to use the route without Iranian approval faced ‘destruction’. (Photo by Handout / US NAVY / AFP)

The Revolutionary Guards has accused the US military of encouraging tankers to attempt the crossing and warned that other vessels trying to use the route without Iranian approval faced “destruction”.

Washington had not immediately responded to Iran’s new accusation of putting civilians in danger by attempting to bypass Iranian laws.

The incident came as Donald Trump weighed his next move in the six-month war, telling Axios that “anything could happen” as the US sought to loosen Tehran’s grip on the strait.

An average of about 40 ships are now passing through Hormuz each day under US military guidance and protection, according to American officials.

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Iran strikes another tanker in Strait of Hormuz, marking 81st attack against ‘illegal’ civilian ships