Iran says three tankers hit mines near Hormuz, with no independent confirmation

Iran's armed forces said three oil tankers struck naval mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz in separate incidents reported late on Friday 13 November and on Saturday 14 November. The statements, carried by Iranian state media, did not give the names or origins of the vessels, AFP reported. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the latest report.

The claims are part of a series of Iranian statements about mine strikes on tankers in recent weeks, none of which has been independently verified, according to Reuters as published by the Jerusalem Post. Iran has said it is stepping up attacks on shipping in response to a US naval blockade of its ports and tougher sanctions.

Two tankers reported hit on an "unauthorized" route

The navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two oil tankers had exploded and caught fire after striking naval mines. In a statement carried by the state broadcaster, it said the ships were "secretly attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorized route," according to AFP. The Guards said the vessels had switched off their radar and positioning systems and had not coordinated with Iranian authorities, ANI reported.

The Guards said one of the two was a supertanker and that its flames lit up the southern shores of the strait during the night. They warned shipowners that vessels crossing without coordinating with the IRGC's traffic control centre would face the same outcome, according to Reuters.

Reports differ on when the statement was issued. Reuters, via the Jerusalem Post, said Friday night. AFP said the state broadcaster carried it early on Saturday. ANI published its report at 22:33 GMT on 13 November, which was shortly after 2 a.m. on 14 November in Tehran, so the two accounts may describe the same moment in different time zones. The statement quoted by ANI said the strikes happened "an hour ago."

A third tanker reported in the eastern strait

Hours later, Iran's regular navy said a third oil tanker caught fire on Saturday morning after hitting a naval mine in the eastern part of the strait, state media reported. According to AFP, the navy said the ship had been navigating through what it called "the unsafe and prohibited zone east of the Strait of Hormuz" with its tracking and identification systems switched off, and was forced to stop after the strike.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. No shipowner, flag state or maritime security agency had confirmed any of the three incidents in the reports available on Saturday, and there was no information on the ships' crews.

The US military has said it cleared the main routes through the waterway of mines, AFP reported.

A run of earlier claims that remain unverified

Iran has made similar statements several times since October, according to Reuters:

• Mid-October: the IRGC said two tankers carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil caught fire after hitting mines.
• 1 November: the IRGC said two tankers exploded after striking mines, with a supertanker left "engulfed in flames." On the same day the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO), a Royal Navy-run reporting service for merchant ships, said a tanker in the strait had been hit by an unknown projectile.
• Earlier in November: the IRGC said four tankers had been destroyed by mines on a prohibited route south of the strait and two other vessels seized. A spokesperson claimed the ships had switched off their identification systems to pass covertly with US military support.
• 13 November: the Guards released footage of a large plume of smoke rising from a vessel they said was carrying liquefied gas and had struck a mine, AFP reported.

Since the war with the United States began in February, Tehran has required vessels to obtain its permission before crossing the strait, according to AFP. Iran has attacked ships it says broke those rules, Reuters reported.

Radar claim rejected by US Central Command

Separately, the IRGC's aerospace force said it destroyed a US military early-warning radar in Bahrain, ANI reported, citing Iran's Fars news agency. The Guards described it as retaliation for an alleged US air attack on a telecommunications tower in Iran's Sirik region. That alleged attack has not been independently confirmed.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) rejected the radar claim directly. In a post on X laid out as "CLAIM" and "FACT", it said the IRGC had launched two one-way attack drones towards Bahrain and that "both were shot down by U.S. forces. There were no injuries or damage."

What to watch

The main open questions are whether UKMTO, shipowners or the US military confirm any of the three reported mine strikes, and whether the vessels and their crews are identified. Iran's repeated warnings that uncoordinated transits will be targeted also bear on how shipowners decide to route tankers through the strait while the US blockade of Iranian ports continues.