Iran Says Four Tankers Hit Mines in Strait of Hormuz as Ship Reported on Fire Off Oman
Photo: AFP via Arab News, file photo
Iran says four tankers have caught fire after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz, while a British maritime agency separately reported a ship on fire off the coast of Oman, in a sharp new escalation over the waterway that carries a fifth of the world's oil and gas.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said three oil tankers exploded and caught fire over the past 24 hours after striking mines on what it calls an unauthorised southern route through the strait. Later on Thursday, Iran's army said a fourth tanker was damaged and caught fire east of the strait after hitting naval mines, leaving it unable to move.
No names, flags or casualty figures have been given for any of the four vessels, and it is not yet clear when exactly the incidents happened. The British maritime agency UKMTO confirmed only that a ship was seen on fire about nine nautical miles north of Khasab in Oman, with the crew's condition unknown, and it did not say what caused the blaze.
Strait of Hormuz Tankers Hit Mines, Iran Says
According to the statement from Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the three tankers had switched off their radar and navigation systems and ignored warnings from the Guards' navy before they hit the mines. The statement said the vessels were trying to pass through the southern route of the strait, which Iran treats as unauthorised.
The army's later statement, carried by state television, said the fourth tanker was operating illegally in a restricted and dangerous area east of the strait when it struck mines and caught fire.
In a separate statement, the Guards also claimed its electronic warfare unit had captured a US MQM-170 drone in the western Strait of Hormuz. That claim is separate from the earlier shooting down of a US MQ-1 drone near the strait, which the blog reported earlier this week.
The UKMTO report came earlier in the day. It said the master of another ship had reported seeing a vessel on fire near Khasab, which sits just off the strait on Oman's Musandam coast. UKMTO gave no cause and no casualty update, and Arab News noted it is not clear whether the burning ship is one of the tankers named in Iran's claims.
Background Context
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow channel between Iran and Oman through which about one fifth of the world's oil and gas consumption normally passes. Since the war began on 28 February 2026, Iran has sought to control who uses the waterway, and the United States has answered with a blockade of Iranian ports and naval help for tankers passing through.
Iran says ships using the southern corridor near the Omani coast are travelling without permission. In Thursday's statement, the Guards' navy warned that the unauthorised route is mined and said ship owners and crews are responsible if they use it.
Just a day earlier, the US military said it had cleared key routes through the strait. On Sunday, US Central Command said it had helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil through Hormuz since the summer. The two sides are now directly disputing whether the main shipping lanes are safe.
The timing matters for the wider talks as well. Iran has already rejected the ideas in a new Qatar peace deal as unacceptable, and its formal response to that deal is due by the end of this week. The United States has also warned Gulf states to prepare for a short, intense campaign after the midterms, according to reports this week.
Reactions and Statements
Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, challenged the US mine-clearing claim in a post on X, writing: "Prove your Hormuz mine-clearing claim with independent evidence, not statements!"
The Guards' statement used blunt language of its own, telling vessel owners and crews they should not pay attention to what it called CENTCOM's delusions on social media.
UKMTO, for its part, stuck to the facts it could confirm. It advised ships in the area to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity while the incident is investigated. It did not back Iran's mine claim, and no Western maritime authority has so far confirmed that mines caused the fire.
No statement has yet come from the US military on Thursday's tanker claims, and no ship owner has publicly identified a vessel involved.
Why This News Matters
For readers in Pakistan, this is not a distant shipping story. Almost all of Pakistan's imported oil comes from the Gulf, and any closure or disruption in Hormuz feeds straight into fuel prices at home. Petrol in Pakistan already stands at Rs377.91 a litre after the latest revision, as reported in today's petrol price update, so a fresh shock in the strait is the last thing motorists and transporters need.
- Four tankers claimed hit: three by the Revolutionary Guards, one more by the army, all in the past 24 hours according to Iran.
- One ship independently confirmed on fire: UKMTO's report of a burning vessel nine nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman, cause unknown.
- What is not confirmed: the names, flags, crews and cargoes of the tankers, and whether mines caused the UKMTO fire.
- Why it is disputed: the US says it cleared the main routes, while Iran says the southern route is mined and unauthorised.
The dispute over the facts is itself part of the story. If mines are in the water, insurers and ship owners will avoid the strait and freight costs will climb. If the claims are overstated, the warning still pushes the same costs up, because caution alone is enough to reroute ships.
Future Developments
Three things will settle this story in the next day or two. First, whether any ship owner, flag state or insurer names a damaged tanker and confirms what happened to it. Second, whether UKMTO or another maritime body updates its report with the crew's condition or a cause for the fire. Third, whether the US military answers Iran's challenge with evidence of its mine-clearing work.
Beyond that, watch Iran's formal response to the Qatar deal, due by the end of the week, and any US statement on the tanker claims. Either one could decide whether this stays a shipping incident or becomes the trigger for a wider clash in the strait.
Sources
Free Malaysia Today (AFP wire): Ship on fire in Strait of Hormuz, says maritime agency
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