Iranian Army says violating oil tanker catches fire near Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian Army says its naval surveillance teams identified a violating oil tanker that caught fire in a restricted maritime zone east of the Strait of Hormuz after switching off its tracking systems while attempting to pass through the area.

According to a statement issued by the Iranian Army Navy’s Public Relations Office, surveillance teams spotted the vessel several hours earlier during patrols and monitoring operations east of the strategic waterway.

The statement described the tanker as a violating vessel and said it had disabled its tracking systems while attempting to navigate through a prohibited zone in the Gulf of Oman.

On Thursday, Iranian Army Chief of Staff and Deputy Coordinator Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the country’s armed forces maintained full control and oversight of the area.

He said the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy maintained a strong presence on the western side of the strait, while the Iranian Army operated on its eastern side, extending its presence northward into the Sea of Oman.

Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesperson for Iran’s Armed Forces, said on Monday that oil smuggling through illegal routes in the strategic waterway would not prevent Washington’s defeat.

He added that US officials’ propaganda and repeated claims of controlling the Strait of Hormuz would not change realities on the ground.

Iran has restricted transit through the Strait of Hormuz since the early days of the US-Israeli war of aggression, which began on February 28 and was halted by a ceasefire in early April following Iran’s resistance and retaliatory operations.

Commercial traffic through the strategic waterway has fallen sharply, with daily vessel movements dropping to single digits amid the war and an illegal naval blockade on Iran.

Tehran has said it will not reopen the strait until the United States meets the seven conditions set out by Iran and takes steps to restore its trust.