'Alter course, go back': Iran issues 'last warning' to US destroyer in Hormuz

Iranian state media has released a video of what it said was a "warning" by the Iranian navy to a US Navy warship to turn back after entering the Strait of Hormuz. While the US announced on Saturday that two guided-missile destroyers, USS Frank E Petersen Jr and USS Michael Murphy, transited Hormuz -- which has mostly been blocked by Iran since the war broke out in February -- to begin clearing Iranian-laid mines, Tehran denied the claim. A video posted by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB on X showed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's (IRGC) "Sepah" (Corps) personnel warning the USS Frank E Peterson to "alter course" and "go back".

"Navy warship 121. This is Sepah Navy station. You must alter course and go back to the Indian Ocean immediately. If you don't obey my order, you will be targeted," the Iranian Navy member is heard telling the US warship by using its hull identification number.

A USS Frank E Peterson member responds that the ship is engaged in "transit passage in accordance with international law". "No challenge is intended to you," she adds. The IRGC serviceman then says that the US Navy warship is transiting in the Oman Sea.

"This is Sepah Navy, this is Sepah Navy, last warning, last warning, last warning," he adds. The video then shows the US Navy ship in the vicinity. "Attention all vessels, attention all vessels, attention all vessels in Oman Sea. This is Iranian Sepah Navy. If you see any warship in your vicinity, keep a distance more than 10 miles from them because I'm ready to open fire on them without any warning," he says further.

Iranian media said the destroyers turned around after being confronted by the IRGC, which reportedly launched a drone towards them.

The incident happened as US and Iranian delegations were in Islamabad for negotiations, which continued till Sunday morning but failed to end the deadlock. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Saturday said its forces began setting conditions for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with two Navy destroyers conducting operations. It said the USS Frank E Peterson and USS Michael Murphy transited Hormuz as part of a "broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps". "Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce," Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper said.

Additional US forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days, CENTCOM said. Since the start of the war on February 28, Iran has asserted control over the strait through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas typically flows. Tehran has sporadically attacked ships in and around the Persian Gulf and has reportedly laid mines to deter shipowners and crews from attempting to traverse the narrow waterway.

US-Iran Peace Talks

The US and Iran held their first high-level face-to-face talks in decades, with US Vice President JD Vance leading the American delegation. Tehran was represented by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The two sides, however, failed to reach an agreement to end the war in the Middle East, which is now in its seventh week. While US President Donald Trump and Vance blamed Iran's refusal to surrender its nuclear ambitions for the collapse of talks, Tehran called the American demands "unreasonable".

Hours after the talks ended, Trump ordered the US Navy to block the Hormuz shipping lane.

In a lengthy post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said his eventual goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping, but that in the meantime, Iran must not be allowed to profit from its control of the waterway.

"Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said. "Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!"

In response to Trump's announcement, Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned they had traffic in the strategic waterway under their full control and would trap any enemy who tried to challenge it "in a deadly vortex".

US-Israel-Iran War

The war broke out on February 28 when the US and Israeli forces attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders.

In response, Iran attacked Israel and US military bases in Gulf countries. Israel and the US then continued striking Iranian sites until Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire last Tuesday. Thousands of people have so far been killed across the Middle East in the war.