Strait of Hormuz: the Revolutionary Guards say they destroyed navigation systems in the south and that no unlicensed ship passed overnight – what was heard on Qeshm – sources

The Revolutionary Guards claim that on the night of Sunday, November 8, into Monday, November 9, no ship without Iranian permission passed through the Strait of Hormuz. They find the cause in the destruction of navigation aid systems in the southern part of the passage, where tankers evading Iranian control move.

The claim was made by an unnamed Guards Navy official speaking to Iranian state media on Monday, November 9. He describes as targets “enemy” navigation systems on the southern rocks of the Strait. According to the same source, no ship not complying with Iranian instructions entered the route Tehran considers illegal, with the result that “oil smuggling” through it has stopped completely.

Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, senior adviser to the Guards commander, had announced in advance that the few passages that, in the Iranian version, “violators” opened with explosions and destruction of rocky points in the Strait would be closed. The announcements of recent days run on the same line, as the Guards attributed to mines the fires on tankers that used unapproved routes, as in the case of the new tanker engulfed in flames by a mine and of the two tankers hit on November 6.

Explosions on Qeshm

A few hours before the announcement, late on Sunday evening, Iranian state media reported explosions on Qeshm Island, opposite Bandar Abbas. Local reports spoke of a projectile impact on the island after American strikes in southern Iran, as well as explosions heard at sea between Qeshm and Bandar Abbas. Qeshm was, according to the same reports, the only point in Hormozgan province where an impact was recorded.

Hormozgan’s deputy governor for political, social and security affairs, Ahmad Nafisi, said the targets were far from residential and commercial areas and that the island’s vital infrastructure and public services were not damaged. He added that the situation is under control, that emergency services are on full alert, and urged residents to get information only from official sources.

Of rumours circulating on social media about explosions in Bandar Abbas and Sirik, the Iranian side replied that neither city was hit and that the sounds came from its own actions to control the Strait. The island had also been targeted over the weekend, when Donald Trump confirmed “small” strikes on Iranian air defences, as we recorded in our report on the night of American strikes on Qeshm.

The claim about navigation systems comes as Washington and Tehran discuss, via Qatar, a framework that would include opening the Strait. Iran insists that only the routes it defines are legal and calls the southern corridor an “illegal passage.”