Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on October 17 that two oil tankers had caught fire after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Each vessel was reported to be carrying about two million barrels of crude oil.
According to Iran's official IRNA news agency, the first tanker hit a mine, triggering an explosion and "fierce flames," while the second struck a mine and was engulfed in a "sea of fire." The names of the vessels and the origin of their cargo were not immediately released.
IRNA said the ships had turned off their positioning and radar systems and attempted to use a route not authorized by Iran. The IRGC also claimed that one vessel tried to run the waterway "with US support," while the other was disabled.
Iran has controlled the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Israeli war against the country began in late February. Since then, Tehran has required all vessels to obtain permission before passing through the strait. Before the war, about one-fifth of global oil consumption passed through the waterway.
This week, the commander of the IRGC navy, Rear Admiral Ali Azmaei, warned that any ship that disables its positioning system would be treated as "hostile."
The United States has also imposed a naval blockade on Iran's oil exports.
Iran's military previously said two tankers caught fire on Thursday and Friday inside Tehran's "prohibited zone" in the Gulf of Oman. Maritime watchdogs also reported two tankers attacked in waters off Saudi Arabia on Friday.
Last Sunday, six vessels were attacked in or near the Strait of Hormuz — the highest one-day total since the war began, according to security firm Vanguard, the International Maritime Organization and the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency.
Attacks around the waterway have increased over the past two weeks, with Iran saying it has stepped up strikes in response to the US port blockade and harsher sanctions imposed last month.
According to Kpler data, nearly 20.8 million barrels of oil passed through the strait on October 8, but only 2.9 million barrels did so on October 11. The disruption has pushed up global energy prices and inflation.
US President Donald Trump has explicitly ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran. "I'm not going to use nuclear," he told Newsmax in an interview on Thursday. Trump said he was also not considering deploying ground troops to Iran. "No, I don't see that, I don't see it," he said, expressing confidence that a deal to end the war would be reached after the US midterm elections on November 3.
