The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy says commercial vessels and oil tankers cooperating with US forces in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf will face a decisive response, describing the US military as “terrorist” and “plundering.”

In a statement on Monday, the IRGC Navy’s public relations office said a third crude oil supertanker was struck and engulfed in flames in the Strait of Hormuz in the morning after ignoring warnings and switching off its navigation system. It was the third tanker to be hit in two days, it added.

The statement said the tanker, like two vessels involved in previous incidents, was hit while attempting to leave the strait despite warnings from the elite force.

It noted that the vessel had sought to disrupt “order and security” in the strategic waterway.

“Any cooperation by commercial vessels and oil tankers with the US terrorist, smuggling, aggressor and plundering military in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf will face our decisive response,” the IRGC Navy said.

The IRGC Navy said on Sunday that a violating crude oil supertanker struck a naval mine in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz, triggering an explosion and a fire in its engine room.

It added that the vessel was attempting to leave the Strait with a cargo of crude oil when it hit the mine.

A day earlier, the IRGC Navy said a crude oil supertanker was engulfed in flames after hitting a naval mine as it tried to exit the Strait of Hormuz via an "unauthorized and dangerous route," setting off a powerful explosion.

The incidents took place after the IRGC naval forces struck a giant liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier on October 9 in the Strait of Hormuz, attempting to pass through an "illegal route" south of the strategic waterway.

Iran has restricted transit through the Strait of Hormuz since the early days of the US-Israeli war of aggression that began on February 28 and came to a halt under a ceasefire in early April amid the Islamic Republic’s brave resistance and successful retaliatory operations.

Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen sharply, with vessel movements dropping to single digits amid the ongoing war on Iran and the restrictions on shipping through the strategic waterway.

Tehran has said it will not reopen the waterway until the United States meets its demands and takes steps to restore Iran's trust.