Two Tankers Catch Fire After Hitting Naval Mines in the Strait of Hormuz

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy of Iran reported that two tanker ships carrying crude oil caught fire on Saturday after striking naval mines while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA. The report was picked up by international media, though there has been no independent confirmation of the incident so far.

According to Iranian state media, the two tankers were together carrying around 2 million barrels of crude oil. The vessels had shut down their positioning and radar systems and attempted to use a route not authorized by Iran through the strategic waterway, which led to the collision with the mines; the second vessel was left disabled following the impact. The IRGC further reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to vessels transiting without Iranian authorization, and the Iranian navy separately reported a tanker catching fire in the Gulf of Oman.

The incident comes amid escalating tensions around the strait, a key route for oil shipments, in the context of the war between the United States and Israel against Iran, which had already pushed global energy prices and inflation higher. Days earlier, on Wednesday, a container ship and a bulk carrier sank near the strait after being hit by projectiles, and the UKMTO agency reported two further attacks on tankers near Saudi Arabia on Friday, one of them involving a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small vessel.

US Central Command offered a different assessment, noting that 97% of vessels that attempted to cross the strait did so without being hit by Iranian projectiles, and that it had rerouted 138 merchant vessels to enforce its blockade on Iranian ports. For its part, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Tehran had submitted a seven-day proposal through Qatar to reopen the strait if certain conditions were met, and said the decision now rested with Washington.