Two senior Iranian officials told foreign media Tehran has adopted new tactics
against ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz to keep oil prices elevated and
influence U.S. midterm elections. The campaign, approved at the highest level
and coordinated across the ruling system, began about 10 days ago and has raised
the number of attacks on vessels Iran says breach restrictions. A U.S. military
official confirmed a tactical shift: after U.S. strikes degraded Iranian radar
capacity, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has begun deploying unarmed
reconnaissance personnel aboard small boats to locate potential targets,
including U.S. warships. The U.S. official said last week U.S. forces
intercepted a sloop carrying suspected IRGC scouts, ordered the crew off and
then destroyed the vessel; there were no casualties.
