Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement carried by state media on Friday that two oil tankers hit mines and caught fire in or near the Strait of Hormuz, a day after Tehran said five other oil tankers had met similar fates. “Two violating oil tankers, one east of the Strait of Hormuz and the other within the Strait itself, attempting to transit through an unauthorized route collided with mines,” the IRGC said in a statement, according to state news media. They had deactivated all their navigation and identification systems, supported by the aggressive and terrorist US army, they tried to leave the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorized route; However, upon striking the mines, they caught fire and were immobilized,” the statement said. On Thursday, Iranian media reported that five oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz in similar incidents. There has been no confirmation of any of the incidents from maritime officials, and President Trump has accused Iran of concocting such attacks to drive up global energy prices. However, a UK naval agency said earlier this week That, despite repeated US assurances that sea routes through the strait are open and safe, there were at least 30 attacks on commercial ships in the region during October alone, a record. Since the war began with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, Tehran has sought to control traffic through the strait, a key passage through which, before the war, about a fifth of the world’s crude oil supplies would normally pass. imposed a blockade on Iranian ports. The US military has escorted tankers through the strait, which, along with other routes, has helped shipping from the Gulf return to, or at least approach, pre-war levels, but ships continue to be attacked CBS/AFP.
