India Condemns Maritime Attacks After IRGC Stops Tankers

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy targeted and stopped three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, claiming the vessels ignored warnings and sailed an unsafe and illegal route. This action follows a period of high tension where Iran declared the strait closed on July 11 after a series of attacks began on July 6. The IRGC Navy stated that illegal interventions and orders from the United States military would not go unanswered.

During a United Nations Security Council open debate on July 29, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, strongly condemned these attacks on commercial vessels. The maritime strikes targeted ships including the GFS Galaxy, MT Al Bahiyah, and MT Mombasa, leaving one Indian national dead and another missing. India emphasized its economic vulnerability in the region, noting 10 million citizens living in the Gulf and $180 billion in annual bilateral trade.

India further condemned Houthi attacks in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Southern Red Sea, as well as attacks on UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon. Ambassador Harish urged the international community to restore free navigation in international waterways and called for comprehensive reforms to the UN Security Council to address the ongoing regional instability.