An analysis released by the Institute for War Studies (ISW) on November 12th compared suspected ship attacks recorded by the UK Maritime Trade Operations Office (UKMTO) with attacks and mine-hitting incidents claimed by Iranian state media, revealing a significant discrepancy between the two sets of data recently. From October 5th to 11th, the UKMTO recorded 14 incidents, while Iran claimed only 4; from November 2nd to 8th, Iran claimed 18 incidents, while the UKMTO recorded 6; from November 9th to 12th, the figures were 10 and 3 respectively. ISW believes that Iran's recent repeated claims of merchant ships hitting mines in the US-backed southern Strait of Hormuz, and even claims that some ships were attacked while under US escort, are intended to undermine ship owners' confidence in US escort capabilities and force merchant ships to use Iranian territorial waters. Incidents recently recorded by British maritime authorities, on the other hand, involve more attacks using unidentified projectiles.
