Serdar Dincel
18 April 2026•Update: 18 April 2026
Two Indian ships were “forced back west out of the Strait of Hormuz” by the navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), according to tanker monitoring service data on Saturday.
The report is based on two Channel 16 (VHF 156.8 MHz) recordings — the international maritime distress and calling channel — TankerTrackers said on the US social media company X.
“Firing was involved. One of the vessels is an Indian-flagged VLCC supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil,” it added.
The report followed an IRGC joint command statement earlier in the day claiming that the Strait of Hormuz had returned to its “previous state” under the control of Iran’s armed forces, citing the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared the strait “completely open” for all commercial vessels.
The decision was made “in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon,” he said on the US social media platform X.
On Feb. 28, the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran, and Tehran retaliated with strikes on Israel and other regional countries hosting US assets.
The war has been on hold since April 8, when Pakistan mediated a two-week ceasefire.
Washington and Tehran held talks in Pakistan last weekend, and efforts for another session in Islamabad are underway.