Iran has reportedly launched multiple anti-ship cruise missiles from the area of Sirik in southern Iran, striking an oil tanker off the coast of Oman, it was reported early on Monday as Iran has named new head of the country’s top national security body.
The vessel was transiting the US-backed southern shipping corridor of the Strait of Hormuz and is said to be "on fire", reports circulating on social media claimed overnight on Monday.
One X post, timestamped around 21:23 UTC on Aug. 9, 2026 (1:23am Gulf Standard Time on Monday, Aug. 10), has been widely shared and amplified by other accounts monitoring regional conflicts and markets.
Some secondary posts describe the tanker being hit by "multiple missiles" and noted possible additional targeting of another vessel, along with unconfirmed reports of a US MQ-9 drone being downed over southern Iran.
A vessel is reportedly on fire off the coast of Oman near Kumzar.
— Press TV (@PressTV) August 9, 2026
Follow: https://t.co/mLGcUTS2ei pic.twitter.com/MXmkEusfy9
Meanwhile, the former commander in chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezaei, has been named head of the country's highest national security body, the Iranian presidency announced on Sunday.
"In light of the resignation of Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr from his position as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and his appointment to new functions, President Masoud Pezeshkian has named Mohsen Rezaei as the head of this body," presidency spokesman Mehdi Tabatabaei said on X.
Rezaei, 71, led the Guards from 1981 to 1997 -- a tenure that included almost all of the Iran-Iraq war -- before going on to occupy several high-ranking political posts. He then served as military adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
Rezaei declared in July that control of the Strait of Hormuz, now at the centre of the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States, was "more important than dozens of atomic bombs".
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
— Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (@MKhamenei_ir) August 9, 2026
Dr. Mohsen Rezaee
Considering your valuable experience, I am hereby appointing you, who were one of the first commanders in the triumphant 8-Year Sacred Defense, to be my representative in the Supreme National Security Council.
His predecessor, Zolghadr, was also a former Guards commander and took up leadership of the council in March.
He will now become a political adviser to Mojtaba Khamenei, according to a statement released by the supreme leader's office on Sunday.–Agencies
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
— Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (@MKhamenei_ir) August 9, 2026
Dear respected brother, Dr. Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr,
In consideration of your valuable experience, I hereby appoint you to be my Political Advisor.