The vessels, each carrying around two million barrels of crude oil, used an unauthorized route, the IRGC says. Published October 18, 2026 October 18, 2026 Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two oil tankers, each carrying around two million barrels of crude oil, caught fire after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The first tanker hit a mine, causing an explosion and “ferocious fire,” the IRGC said. on Saturday, as the second tanker hit a mine that engulfed it “in a massive fire,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported. immobilized. Iran took control of the Strait of Hormuz after the US-Israel war against the country began in late February. Since then, Tehran has required all ships to request authorization before transiting. About a fifth of the world’s oil consumption transited this waterway before the war. This week, IRGC naval commander Rear Admiral Ali Azmaei warned that any ship that disabled its navigation systems would be considered “hostile.” The United States has imposed its own naval counterblockade on Iranian oil exports. Iran’s military previously said two oil tankers caught fire on Thursday and Friday in Tehran’s “prohibited zone” in the Gulf of Oman. in Gulf waters off Saudi Arabia on Friday. Last Sunday, six ships were attacked in or near the Strait of Hormuz, the most in a single day since the war began, according to security firm Vanguard, the International Maritime Organization and the United Kingdom’s maritime agency UKMTO. Attacks around the waterway have increased in the past two weeks, and Iran says it is stepping up attacks in response to the U.S. blockade of its ports and tougher sanctions imposed last month. Nearly 20.8 million barrels of oil passed on October 8, but only 2.9 million on October 11, according to Kpler data. The disruption has driven up global energy prices and inflation. US President Donald Trump has explicitly ruled out the use of a nuclear weapon against Iran. “I wouldn’t use nuclear power,” he told the news site Newsmax in an interview Thursday. Trump said he was also not considering sending troops on the ground in Iran. “No, I don’t see it, I don’t see it,” he said, adding that he believes an agreement to end the war will be reached after the US midterm elections on November 3.
