Iranupdated 4m ago3 min read
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Say Two Supertankers Hit Naval Mines in Strait of Hormuz
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IRGC Navy states two oil supertankers struck naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Explosions disabled engines; crews abandoned the vessels following the mine strikes.
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Mines, fires, abandonment
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said two supertankers struck naval mines in the southern Strait of Hormuz, triggering explosions and fires that disabled their engines and forced their crews to abandon the vessels. The IRGC Navy said the tankers had attempted to pass through what it described as an "unauthorized route" in the southern part of the strategic waterway. The IRGC said the explosions sparked intense fires in the vessels’ engine rooms, leaving both tankers immobilized and stranded, and it said the vessels were carrying a combined cargo of more than 4.5 million barrels of crude oil.
The IRGC said both tankers were subsequently abandoned by their crews near the southern coast of the Strait of Hormuz, and it framed the incident as part of ongoing tensions with the United States over maritime security and control of the waterway. Iran’s claim also appeared alongside a separate Iranian account that said the movement of non-compliant vessels through Strait of Hormuz had stopped entirely following the destruction of navigational aid systems servicing those vessels.
Competing tallies and threats
Iran’s IRGC Navy said the movement of non-compliant vessels through Strait of Hormuz had stopped entirely, and an informed official close to the IRGC Navy warned that any renewed aerial intervention by the U.S. military in support of oil smuggling would be met with a direct and much more decisive response. Iran’s IRGC Navy also claimed that seven oil tankers were damaged overnight in and around the Strait of Hormuz, with the claim tied to four tankers hit during ship-to-ship oil transfers and three vessels hit by mines it said it had placed west of the strait. UKMTO recorded only two attacks during the same period, on the Kuwait-flagged Al Dasma and the Liberia-flagged Soyia, leaving a gap between what Iran said and what anyone else could confirm.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Donald Trump accused Iran of fabricating reports of attacks on oil tankers and naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz to drive up oil prices ahead of the November midterm elections. The same reporting said Trump wrote, "Iran is doing everything they can to drive up the price of Oil prior to the US Midterm Election," while the IRGC’s mine narrative remained unverified in the accounts that cited UKMTO.
Shipping disruption stakes
Lloyd’s List Intelligence said at least 104 non-Iranian-linked vessels transited Hormuz between 5 and 11 October, while it also said at least 28 reported and confirmed attacks in October had been recorded in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waterways so far. Lloyd’s List Intelligence said traffic represented a 17% week-on-week decline but remained 31% above the August weekly average, and it said the preliminary data suggested operators maintaining active Middle East Gulf operations had not yet been deterred. Lloyd’s List Intelligence said the Persian Gulf Strait Authority added 43 vessels to its sanctions list, and it said the list was first announced on 24 August with 44 vessels named.
“Iranian claims that tankers are hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz are false.”
Kurdistan24 reported that CENTCOM rejected the mine narrative and said, "Iranian claims that tankers are hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz are false," while it said CENTCOM added that it had cleared the international waterways of mines. Kurdistan24 also said Bahri confirmed two Filipino sailors were killed in a previous Hormuz incident involving its vessel Sidr, and it said the IMO Secretary General told Fox News on October 19 that approximately 6,000 seafarers had been stranded near Hormuz since hostilities began.
