Iranupdated 51m ago2 min read
IRGC Navy Says Oil Supertanker Hit Mine in Strait of Hormuz, Warns Ships
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IRGC Navy says oil supertanker struck naval mine in southern Hormuz, causing explosion and fire. Third tanker struck a mine in Hormuz, explosion and engine-room fire reported.
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Mine hits, fire spreads
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said a crude oil supertanker hit a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz and suffered a major fire while using an unauthorised route with navigation systems turned off.
The IRGC Navy warned that “wishes to ignore the security and rules” of the strait would face a similar fate.
UKMTO reported an unidentified projectile struck a tanker heading outbound through the Strait of Hormuz, while the UAE said its coastguard rescued 22 crew members after a fire broke out at an unnamed tanker close to its shores.
Habibollah Sayyari, chief of staff and joint coordinator of the army, told state television that “We have struck blows against enemy vessels. If anything else happens against Iran, we will strike them again.”
Prepared for action
Habibollah Sayyari said Iran’s forces remain prepared for both defensive and offensive operations more than seven months after the United States and Israel started the war by attacking Iran on February 28. UKMTO reported ship masters in the vicinity of Ras al-Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had been directed via radio broadcast overnight to move from their anchorages.
The IRGC Navy warned that ships attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz with navigation and identification systems switched off will be treated as hostile and face decisive action. The IRGC Navy emphasized, “All vessels within the Strait of Hormuz that switch off their navigation and identification systems will be identified as hostile and dealt with firmly and decisively,” after it said the incident marked the third time since the previous day that a non-compliant oil tanker struck a naval mine and caught fire.
Blockade talks stall
Iran demanded a return to a now-collapsed memorandum of understanding agreed in June, and it demanded Washington’s backing of an already finalised Iran-Oman deal that designates temporary coordinated entry and exit routes for vessels transiting the strait. Al Jazeera said mediated efforts to end the US-Israel war on Iran remained deadlocked as messages continued to be exchanged through mediators.
The IRGC Navy warned that traffic in the waterway will not return to normal unless the United States ends the war and blockade against the country, and it warned, “not even one drop of oil will be exported” from the Strait of Hormuz or anywhere else in the Persian Gulf. The IRGC Navy said the incident came after Iran closed the vital chokepoint following the launch of the latest bout of American-Israeli onslaught against the country in late February.