Explosions reported near Iran’s Qeshm Island amid Strait of Hormuz tensions

Explosion-like sounds are being reported near Qeshm Island early on Wednesday, with the cause of the incident still unclear.

According to Iran’s Mehr News Agency, local residents and sources heard loud sounds near the island, which lies close to the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.

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Mehr said military and law enforcement authorities had not yet issued any official statement about the incident.

An account linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, citing state broadcaster IRIB, said early assessments suggested that a projectile may have struck an uninhabited area on the southern coast of the island.

The reports emerged during a visit to Qeshm by Hojjatoleslam Vakilpour, the Iranian supreme leader’s special representative, who was meeting local cultural and political figures.

During the visit, Vakilpour quoted Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as saying that “war and diplomacy must be pursued simultaneously and should not be placed in opposition to one another,” according to IRIB.

Vakilpour also stressed the importance of the Strait of Hormuz, saying: “The Strait of Hormuz does not belong solely to the Islamic Republic; it belongs to all the oppressed people of the world.”

“You, the people of Qeshm island, carry significant responsibilities in managing the Strait of Hormuz and safeguarding the Islamic Revolution.”