Hormuz: Iran says two tankers on fire after hitting mines
According to the Revolutionary Guards, two oil tankers struck mines and caught fire. Off Saudi Arabia, an unknown projectile hit another tanker.
Symbolic image · Photo: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
The navy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has reported a second mine strike in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the state news agency IRNA, as reported by Reuters, two oil tankers caught fire after explosions; state media said they were carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil. The second ship was disabled after the mine strike, it said. The tankers had switched off their positioning and radar systems and used an unauthorized route, IRNA said. The Revolutionary Guards did not give the name, crew or extent of damage; there was no independent confirmation.
The British maritime security agency UKMTO also reported that a tanker was hit by an unknown projectile on Friday about 68 nautical miles northeast of the Saudi port of Jubail; the crew is safe. On Wednesday, according to maritime authorities, a container ship and a bulk carrier had already sunk near the strait after being hit.
Iran justifies the intensified attacks by citing the U.S. naval blockade of its ports. U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said in a video message that the blockade has prevented Iranian crude exports worth at least $25 billion and frozen nearly $350 million in Iranian cryptocurrencies.