Unverified video appears to contradict White House Navy claim: 'Forced to turn back'

The Trump administration’s account of an incident on Saturday involving two U.S. Navy destroyers near the Strait of Hormuz appeared to be undercut Sunday as Iranian state media released footage contradicting claims made by the Department of Defense.

On Saturday, U.S. Central Command claimed that two U.S. Navy destroyers had successfully “transited the Strait of Hormuz” and began operations to clear the waterway of sea mines placed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. President Donald Trump repeated the claim in a social media post, while a U.S. official also said destroyers had not received a threat from the IRGC, per Axios' Barak Ravid.

Tehran refuted the Trump administration’s claim, however, with a report from Bloomberg suggesting that the two destroyers were “forced to turn back” after receiving threats from the IRGC, and that the destroyers had not passed through the strait.

In an apparent effort to further support its claim, Iranian state media released footage on Sunday appearing to show the IRGC issuing the two destroyers a “last warning,” along with the response from the crew of the two U.S. warships. The Iranian state media report has not been independently verified.

“You must alter course and go back to the Indian Ocean immediately – if you don’t obey my order, you will be targeted,” an apparent IRGC member can be heard saying in the video released by Iranian state media, the message directed at the U.S. warships.

“This is coalition warship 121 engaged in transit passage in accordance with international law,” a crewmember of one of the U.S. warships could be heard saying over radio communication in the video. “No challenge is intended to you.”

“I’m ready to open fire on them without any warning,” the apparent IRGC member was also heard saying in the video, published by Press TV, an English-language news network run by the Iranian government.