Iran Claims Four Oil Tankers Exploded After Hitting Mines in Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy has claimed that four oil tankers exploded after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, while sailing through routes it calls unauthorised. The claim came through Iranian state media, and it has not been independently verified.

The Guard said the vessels had switched off their navigation and identification systems and ignored repeated warnings against using restricted routes. One tanker, carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil, was left burning after a powerful explosion, it said.

What the Guard claimed

In its first statement, reported late on Sunday, the Guard said two oil tankers, including a supertanker, had exploded after striking mines. One of the vessels was engulfed in flames, it said. A later statement raised the total to four tankers, with the fourth vessel also carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil.

The names and nationalities of the ships, the number of casualties, and the full extent of the damage are not known. Reuters said it was unable to immediately verify the statements. Iran has imposed restrictions on vessels passing through the strait and has attacked ships it says break those rules, as it seeks to assert control over the waterway and put pressure on the United States.

A separate incident reported by UK monitors

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said it received a report of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz on 1 November. A merchant vessel relayed a Mayday call saying another vessel had been struck by an unknown projectile.

In another report, the agency said a crude oil tanker was hit by an unknown projectile on its port side, about 40 nautical miles south of Iran’s Lavan Island, causing a fire on board. It is not clear whether the vessels in the UK reports are among the tankers named by the Guard.

Why the strait matters

The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, carries around one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies. Tensions there have stayed high since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February, and the war that began on 28 February is still going on.

Oil prices have risen above $100 per barrel during the disruption, though they fell by nearly 3 percent on Monday, to below $102, as investors weighed diplomatic efforts against the risk of renewed US military action. Talks mediated by Qatar are continuing in Doha.

What is still unclear

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Monday that Tehran is considering a two-day plan to reopen the strait if the US agrees to its conditions, after earlier proposing a one-week timeline. His spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said there can be no deal on the strait without an end to the US naval blockade.

For now, the tanker explosions remain a claim, not a confirmed fact. No immediate response from the US military has been reported, and the cause of the explosions, the damage to the ships, and whether anyone was hurt are all still unverified. Read more in Iran Warns of Response Without Geographical Limits to Any New Attack as UAE Seeks Mediation Breakthrough. Read more of our Politics coverage.