"There were no American or Israeli ships, there were two international ships," President Donald Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told Fox News, according to the AP.
Leavitt also said that Iran used "fast gunboats" in the operations and that Iran acted "like a bunch of pirates."
Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced via state-controlled media on Wednesday that operations had been carried out against three ships that attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Two ships - the Epaminondas and the Francesca - were seized and taken to Iranian territorial waters for "inspection."
The first incident occurred 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman, at the entrance to the strait. The container ship Epaminondas was fired upon by Iranian forces, causing extensive damage to the bridge. According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, the ship ignored "warnings."
At the same time, the Panamanian-flagged cargo ship Euphoria was reportedly fired upon a little further south, closer to the Iranian coast. A third ship, the Francesca from the Swiss shipping company MSC, was also reportedly attacked by the Revolutionary Guard.
No crew members were reported injured in any of the incidents.
The events occurred a few hours after the US extended the ceasefire with Iran - but at the same time emphasized that the American blockade of Iranian ports remains.
This weekend, the US seized an Iranian container ship and on Tuesday, US forces boarded an Iran-linked oil tanker.
