IRGC Navy: Two Oil Tankers Hit Mines in Strait of Hormuz

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy claims that two oil tankers struck naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz earlier today. Together, the two ships were carrying more than 4.5 million barrels of crude. The IRGC Navy's Public Relations Department said both vessels were using a southern route through the Strait that Tehran has not authorized.

According to the Guards, the blasts started severe fires on board and disabled the engine rooms of both tankers. The crews then left the ships on the southern coast of the Strait.

Iran made a similar claim earlier this month. On Saturday, October 17, the IRGC Navy announced that a second supertanker had struck a mine and caught fire in Hormuz. Iran's official news agency IRNA said both tankers had switched off their positioning and radar systems and had taken a route Iran had not approved. State media put their cargo at about 2 million barrels of crude.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has rejected Iran's claims of control over the waterway. Earlier this month it posted: "FACT: IRGC's navy commander has no navy. American forces and regional partners clearly control the Strait of Hormuz." CENTCOM also said US forces had helped Gulf partners ship more than 19 million barrels of crude through the Strait.

American soldiers (Photo: US Army CENTCOM)

On October 22, Tehran sent Washington a warning through diplomatic channels. It said continued tanker traffic on unapproved routes in Hormuz would trigger strikes on American bases in the region. That same day, US President Donald Trump accused Iran of trying to drive up oil prices ahead of the US midterm elections.

"They are even staging false attacks, laying mines and everything else, even though more oil is now passing through the Strait of Hormuz than before the confrontation began," Trump wrote.