Daily Mail, on Iran, 17 October 2026

7.3out of 10Serious

Iranians go fishing for iPhones and French perfume floating in the Strait of Hormuz

Tap a highlight to see why it matters.3 findings

This is the moment Iranians went fishing for iPhones and French perfume . Footage shows hundreds of men after thousands of containers were left floating in the vital waterway. According to Iran 's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ship had sailed through an 'unauthorised and dangerous' part of the strait when it hit a mine. The cargo vessel had sunk after a blaze erupted on board and all 21 crew members were evacuated uninjured.

More than 2,500 containers were being transported by the Singapore-flagged ship GFS Pride on October 13. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said the vessel was struck by unknown projectiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. GFS Pride's sister ship GFS Giselle was also hit the following day. It sustained hull damage and reached a safe anchorage under its own propulsion. The containers on board GFS Pride had reportedly been carrying 'iPhones and perfume' and Iranian fishermen promptly scrambled to recover the floating cargo.

Footage shows hundreds of Iranians scrambling for iPhones and French perfume after several containers were left floating in the vital waterway Pictured: Containers on board the sunken GFS Pride float in the Strait of Hormuz along with thousands of items of cargo they were carrying In footage from the incident, one man is heard saying: 'We are gathering and heading towards the Strait of Hormuz. 'We heard a container ship sank, so we're going to collect iPhones and perfume.'

Several large cargo containers are seen with thousands of items floating in the water. The sinking of GFS Pride comes after the US Navy reportedly engaged in a risky, top-secret four-month mission to clear mines from the bottom of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian forces have set mines across the crucial waterway, through which one-fifth of the world's oil supply traverses, ever since the US and Israel attacked the country back in February.

As of June, an estimated 80 mines had been placed in it, according to the International Maritime Organization. But last month, President Donald Trump announced 'all mines' in the strait's international waters had been removed or detonated as he declared the narrow waterway an 'American territory'. However Navy SEAL divers worked under the cover of darkness for four months in an effort to clear the mines, the Financial Times reported in September.

They worked in small teams at night using inflatable-hulled crafts and located the mines on the bottom of the strait with the help of robot boats and submersibles operating towed sonar arrays. READ MORE: US Navy launched top secret four-month mission to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz in risky night time operation

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What we found (3)

The Daily Mail states in its headline and opening line, as plain fact, that the GFS Pride was blown up by a mine. That is the IRGC's account. Its own body later reports that Singapore's maritime authority said the ship was hit by unknown projectiles, and Reuters reported the same. The article also calls the floating cargo 'loot'.

  1. Headline goes beyond the article

    Serious

    “after container ship is blown up by mine and sinks”

    Why this matters
    The headline states 'blown up by mine' as established fact, with no attribution.
    The impression it gives
    A reader believes it is settled that a mine sank the ship.
    The context
    The mine account comes only from the IRGC, as the body itself says in S3. Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority said the vessel was struck by unknown projectiles, and Reuters, citing maritime industry sources, reported the ship sank after being struck by a projectile. The headline drops the attribution the body gives and picks one contested account.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    Iranians collect floating iPhones and perfume after container ship sinks in Strait of Hormuz; Iran says it hit a mine, Singapore says it was struck by projectiles.

  2. States one side's claim as fact

    Serious

    “after a container ship was blown up by a mine and sank in the Strait of Hormuz”

    Why this matters
    The opening sentence repeats, in the Daily Mail's own voice, that a mine blew up the ship.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes the mine as the confirmed cause before meeting any other account.
    The context
    The cause is contested. Only the IRGC says it was a mine. Singapore's authority says unknown projectiles struck the ship, and the article reports that its sister ship was also hit the next day.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    This is the moment Iranians collected iPhones and perfume after a container ship sank in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's IRGC says it hit a mine; Singapore's maritime authority says it was struck by unknown projectiles.

  3. Uses a loaded word

    Minor

    “scrambling for loot”

    Why this matters
    The Daily Mail calls the floating cargo 'loot' in its own voice.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes the men to be looting, a word that carries a charge of theft.
    The context
    The article's own account is that fishermen recovered cargo floating in the sea from a sunken ship. Nothing in the article shows a crime.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“Iranian fishermen promptly scrambled to recover the floating cargo”

    Show it in the article

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