Strait of Hormuz: four tankers on fire after hitting mines, according to Iranian armed forces

The Iranian armed forces claimed Thursday, October 29, that four new tankers had caught fire after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington claiming on the contrary to have largely demined it.

Three “violating” ships exploded and caught fire after hitting mines while they attempted to take the unauthorized route south of the strait,” the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s powerful armed force, first declared in a statement.

They had “disabled their radars and navigation systems” and ignored warnings, according to the Guardians, who added that they had seized an American reconnaissance drone in the area. The origin of the cargo and the flags of the ships were not specified. The British shipping agency UKMTO earlier reported a ship on fire in the strait, off the coast of Oman, although it is not known at this stage whether it is one of the three tankers mentioned by the Guardians.

“The fate of the crew is unknown. No damage assessment or environmental impact report is available at this time,” the agency wrote. The Iranian military later announced that another tanker had been hit. The ship, “which was operating illegally in a restricted and dangerous area (...), was damaged and caught fire after hitting naval mines,” she said in a statement broadcast by state television. The Strait of Hormuz, bordered to the north by the Iranian coast and to the south by the Sultanate of Oman, is around thirty kilometers in its narrowest part.

Iran claims control of this strategic sea route, through which a fifth of the world's hydrocarbons transited before the war started at the end of February by Israeli-American strikes against Tehran. And it regularly targets ships that venture there without its authorization along the Omani coast.

Washington in return imposes a blockade of Iranian ports and escorts tankers along this route, while negotiations between the two countries are at an impasse. The US Middle East Military Command (Centcom) recently claimed to have helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil through the strait since the summer, bypassing the Iranian barrier. He assured X that “the main routes were clear of any Iranian mines thanks to the efforts” of the teams.

“The unauthorized route is undermined, the shipowners and crews are responsible for their passage through these routes and must not pay attention to Centcom's delusions on social networks,” the Iranian Guardians reacted on Thursday. “Prove your allegations regarding the demining of the Strait of Hormuz using independent evidence, and not simple statements!”, also launched their spokesperson, Hossein Mohebi, in a message published on X.