ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday that "three non-compliant oil tankers” exploded after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz as a British maritime monitor reported several incidents involving projectiles.
UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Tuesday an attack on "an Indian-crewed dhow" while sailing out of the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. The Omani Royal Navy rescued the surviving crew, but the vessel’s condition was unknown.
The monitor in the past two days has recorded a vessel “struck by an unknown projectile,” a tanker “struck by two unknown projectiles” and another merchant vessel “struck by an unknown projectile,” all having occurred on Sunday.
The incidents and conflicting accounts follow a surge in maritime confrontations this past month in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for global energy supplies, as the US and Iran prepare for the possibility of renewed confrontations. The monitor recorded at least 30 incidents in October - accounting for more than half the month prior - 88 recorded incidents in the strait and at least 145 conflict-related incidents as of Friday since the beginning of the conflict.
Iran alleged that the tankers had switched off their navigation and identification systems and were using “unauthorized routes” through the Strait of Hormuz, state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported Tuesday, citing the IRGC navy’s statement.
It said the vessels “were blown up by a naval mine” and left “burning in flames” off the strait and warned that vessels which disregard regulations and cooperate with the US military to navigate unauthorized routes through the strait “will be accompanied by similar incidents.”
The incidents follow reports of strikes in Iran’s southern coast.
Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency reported shortly after midnight Tuesday that “several explosions were heard on Qeshm Island,” in Iran’s south.
An hour earlier, the IRGC claimed that it had intercepted “two American MQM-170 reconnaissance drones” and destroyed another south of Qeshm Island, IRGC-run Sepah News reported.
United States President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that Washington had targeted an anti-aircraft facility in a “minor attack.”
“They built an anti-aircraft facility. It took them about two months; we watched it get built and as soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely,” said Trump in a phone call with FOX News.
Separately, the IRGC on Tuesday claimed that two US-made Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) one-way attack drones were intercepted and destroyed over Bandar Khamir by the air defense forces of the Imam Sajjad Corps in Hormozgan province, Sepah news reported.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has rejected previous IRGC claims regarding the presence of sea mines and Iranian navy patrol, stating that “All internationally recognized primary transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz have been cleared of sea mines by U.S. forces” and that “Thousands of commercial vessels have safely used the transit lanes and continue today.”
CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper further affirmed on Friday that the strait's main shipping routes were clear of Iranian naval forces and that “Iran's navy is all at the bottom of the sea.”
