Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy has claimed that four oil tankers caught fire and exploded in the Strait of Hormuz after attempting to navigate what it described as unauthorised routes, as tensions mount in the strategic waterway. Iranian state media reported on Friday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy had issued a fresh statement confirming that a fourth tanker, carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil, had struck a naval mine, triggering a powerful explosion and a fire.
An earlier statement from the IRGC Navy said another tanker carrying two million barrels of crude oil had also struck a naval mine. Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported an incident involving a crude oil tanker struck by an unidentified projectile while completing an outbound transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to UKMTO, a verified source reported that the vessel had been hit by an unknown projectile on its port side, approximately 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) south of Iran’s Lavan Island, sparking a fire on board. The agency said the crew were safe and there had been no reported environmental impact.
It remained unclear whether the vessel involved in the UKMTO reports was among the four tankers cited by the IRGC Navy. The incidents come amid escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important maritime chokepoints, through which approximately one-fifth of global oil supplies pass.
The waterway has remained a focal point of regional insecurity since US-Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February. Iranian state media also reported that the country’s forces had shot down and captured an MQM-170 US drone over Qeshm Island, near the Strait of Hormuz.
There was no immediate response from the US military, and SHIPS & PORTS could not independently verify the claim.