Iran blames US for attack on Qeshm fishing boats, later says missing pair found

Iranian state-linked media on Saturday accused the United States of attacking fishing boats near Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving fishermen injured and others unaccounted for. The first account came from Tasnim, an Iranian news agency associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which said the "American enemy" had struck two fishing boats in the Qeshm area that morning. According to Tasnim, as relayed by the Hebrew-language Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, one person was hurt, two more were missing, and search efforts were under way.

Later in the day, Iranian state television said the two missing men had been located. The Times of Israel reported that state TV announced that the two fishermen from Qeshm, who had disappeared after what it described as an American attack on their boat, had been found. The reports do not describe the condition of the men when they were located.

Two accounts, different details

The Iranian accounts carried by the two outlets do not fully match. Tasnim, as quoted by Abu Ali Express, referred to two fishing boats, one person wounded and two people missing. The Times of Israel, citing an earlier state television report quoting a provincial official, described an attack on a single vessel, with two fishermen missing and two others wounded. Israel.com has not been able to reconcile these figures, and both versions are presented here as the outlets reported them.

Neither report says how the boats were attacked or what weapon was used. All of the claims about the incident, including the attribution to the United States, come from Iranian official or state-affiliated sources.

Who is reporting

Tasnim is one of several Iranian news agencies and is widely identified with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the branch of Iran's armed forces that answers directly to the country's supreme leader and plays a large role in Iran's naval activity in the Gulf. Its statements often reflect the positions of that body.

Abu Ali Express is an Israeli Telegram channel that publishes in Hebrew and frequently relays statements from Arabic- and Persian-language media to an Israeli audience. In this case it reproduced the Tasnim statement in translation.

The Times of Israel is an English-language Israeli news site. Its live coverage of the incident drew on Iranian state television and on reporting by the French news agency AFP.

The US response so far

The Times of Israel said AFP had approached US Central Command, known as CENTCOM, for comment. CENTCOM is the American military command responsible for US operations across the Middle East, including the waters around Iran. The report did not include any response from CENTCOM, and neither source carries a US statement confirming or denying involvement.

Where this happened

Qeshm is an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that links the Gulf to the open sea. The Times of Israel described the strait as a crucial shipping route. Because of its position, incidents there tend to draw attention well beyond the region.

The accusation came on a day of heightened rhetoric from Tehran. In the same live coverage, The Times of Israel also noted that Mojtaba Khamenei had ordered a military response without "geographic limits" to new threats. The reports do not draw a direct link between that order and the fishing boat incident, and this article does not either.

What the reports do not say

Several basic questions remain open. The reports do not explain how the attack was carried out or what evidence Iran has for blaming the United States. They do not reconcile whether one boat or two were involved, or whether one or two people were wounded. They do not give the names or ages of the fishermen, the extent of anyone's injuries, or the state of the two men who were later found.

There is also no independent confirmation from outside Iranian official channels that an attack took place at all, and no American comment on the accusation. Until CENTCOM or another party responds, the account rests entirely on Iranian state media.