IRGC says three oil tankers hit mines and caught fire on unauthorized route south of Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said Thursday that three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking naval mines while attempting to use what Tehran described as an unauthorized route south of the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRGC said the vessels had switched off their radar and navigation systems and ignored warnings from Iranian forces before hitting the mines.

It said the tankers were later abandoned along the southern coast of the strait.

The IRGC Navy warned that routes outside those authorized by Iran are mined and said vessel owners and crews would bear responsibility for attempting to use them.

A British maritime security agency separately reported a vessel on fire near the strait, around nine nautical miles north of Khasab in Oman, but did not identify the cause of the blaze or confirm that it was one of the three tankers cited by Iran.

No independent confirmation has yet emerged for the IRGC’s account that all three vessels struck mines.

The incident comes as tensions over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remain high, with Iran restricting traffic through the strategic waterway and the United States maintaining pressure on Iranian maritime activity.