Iranian Officials Say Hard‑Liners Ordered July 7 Ship Attacks to Kill Quiet U.S. Deal
Iranian officials say hard‑line factions ordered attacks on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz on July 7, without President Masoud Pezeshkian’s knowledge, in a move aimed at sabotaging a tentative understanding with the United States.
Iranian officials say a potential opening with Washington over Gulf tensions was derailed not by the United States, but by hard‑line actors inside Iran.
According to these officials, an emerging deal with the U.S. was reached in early July. They say that on 7 July, hard‑liners ordered attacks on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, without informing President Masoud Pezeshkian or much of Iran’s leadership. Investigators later traced the decision, they claim, to a faction linked to an influential cleric and former intelligence chief.
The account suggests a deliberate effort by this network to sink the understanding with Washington and keep pressure in the Strait of Hormuz high. The three July 7 attacks were widely attributed to Iran at the time, but Tehran did not publicly accept responsibility. The new claims, if accurate, indicate that parts of Iran’s security establishment were prepared to act independently of the elected government to block any de‑escalation they opposed.
The episode comes as Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, is tying changes in shipping conditions to U.S. policy. He has said that a recent agreement with Oman on shipping lanes will not bring an immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran, he argues, wants Washington to comply with the Islamabad Memorandum, lifting the naval blockade and oil sanctions outlined in that document.
For governments and shipping companies that rely on the passage through Hormuz, the picture painted by Iranian officials raises a hard question: even if Iran’s president and foreign minister want calmer waters, can they make that stick if rival power centres can order attacks on commercial vessels on their own?
The reliability of any future maritime arrangement with Tehran will depend on whether these internal lines of authority become clearer. Independent corroboration of the officials’ claims, or new unexplained incidents involving commercial ships in Hormuz, will help show whether the July 7 attacks were an exception or a sign of how Iran’s internal power struggle now plays out at sea.
Sources
- OSINT