US denies Iranian claim that tanker hit mines in Strait of Hormuz

The US military on Monday denied Iranian reports that an oil tanker struck sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the claims as disinformation. “No ships have hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz,” US Central Command, the headquarters overseeing US military operations in the Middle East, said on US social media company X. The command rejected assertions by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that a vessel had been disabled, calling them an attempt to “intimidate” commercial shipping in the region through “disinformation.” Earlier, IRGC said an oil tanker caught fire after hitting two sea mines while attempting to take an “illegal” route through the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel was “completely stopped after being hit by two sea mines,” it said in a statement carried by state-run broadcaster IRIB. The IRGC did not provide details on casualties or the extent of the damage. It called on vessels transiting the strategic waterway to comply with procedures announced by Tehran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump recently said that all mines had been removed from the Strait of Hormuz, and warned of a “zero tolerance policy” on new mine placement. He said Washington was utilizing Space Force technology to monitor the area with extreme precision. Iranian officials have asserted that "no one except Iran knows the location" of the mines in the strategic waterway. On Sunday, US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, marking the first US strikes on Iranian territory since late July.