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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran has published dramatic video-record footage of masked commandos in speedboats storming and boarding two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Among these are the Liberia-flagged Epaminondas heading towards the Mundra port of India, Gujarat, and the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca.

The intense operation, which is Hollywood-style, shows armed members going aboard that secure the bridge and engine rooms. The video was aired the day after the seizures in the Iranian state media, which alleged that they had been violated during transit. The ships have been said to have been escorted into the waters of Iran.

This incident escalates the situation in the crucial waterway, an important oil and trade route, and comes against the backdrop of wider US-Iran maritime confrontations. India is keeping a close eye on the situation with one of its vessels on the way to its port. The move has been called illegal by Panama.