Iran's Revolutionary Guards say two oil tankers hit mines in Strait of Hormuz

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy announced that two oil tankers struck sea mines and caught fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz while attempting to pass through what it described as an “unauthorized route,” a day after announcing similar incidents involving other vessels. There has been no independent confirmation of the two incidents so far.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy announced on Friday, November 6, that two oil tankers struck sea mines in and around the Strait of Hormuz, one east of the strait and the other inside it, while attempting to pass through what it described as an “unauthorized route.” The Guard's statement, carried by Iran's Mehr news agency, said the tankers caught fire after the collisions and stopped sailing.

The statement alleged that the two tankers had switched off all navigation and identification systems and attempted to leave the strait “with support from the U.S. military.” The Revolutionary Guard said its navy would continue keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed and that there would be no change until all “seven conditions” were met, warning that efforts by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to push oil tankers through waters “contaminated with mines” would lead only to “more failures.”

The ConflictTR account posted a video with the report showing a vessel listing heavily to one side in the middle of the sea, along with other footage filmed from a small boat near its hull. The video carries the logos of several media outlets, and its filming date and location, as well as whether it shows the two tankers mentioned in the statement, could not be independently verified.

Second announcement in two days

The announcement came one day after a Revolutionary Guard report on Thursday said that two oil tankers and a tugboat had caught fire after one tanker struck a mine south of the strait and the other caught fire farther east, with the flames spreading to a tugboat that approached to provide assistance. Separately, the Iranian Army Navy announced that a tanker had struck a mine and caught fire east of the strait after entering an “unsafe area,” without making clear whether the announcement referred to one of the vessels previously mentioned by the Guard, according to Shafaq News.

Iranian authorities did not disclose the vessels' identities or nationalities and did not report any injuries.

A different U.S. account

By contrast, U.S. Central Command confirmed in November that the main shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz remained free of sea mines. It had also previously denied a similar claim by the Revolutionary Guard that a very large crude carrier had struck a mine. It remains unclear whether the locations of the two latest incidents were within the routes Washington had declared safe or in other sectors of the strait.

There has so far been no independent confirmation of the two incidents from shipping companies or the U.S. side. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most important waterways for transporting oil, and tensions there have escalated since the outbreak of the war between the United States and Iran.

Video: ConflictTR via X. Cover image: Wikimedia Commons (archive)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards say two oil tankers hit mines in Strait of Hormuz