Three more tankers hit mines in Strait of Hormuz: Iranian military
Iran’s Armed Forces said on Saturday that three more oil tankers caught fire after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz while sailing in unauthorized routes.
Iran’s Navy in a statement on Saturday said a tanker caught fire and was immobilized after hitting a naval mine east of the Strait of Hormuz despite previous warnings.
The Navy said the vessel had switched off its tracking and identification systems while transiting the unsafe zone.
It warned that any tanker entering the prohibited area would face the same fate, criticizing owners for risking their assets based on the “nonsense” of US President Donald Trump.
The statement came hours after the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy said two oil tankers attempting a covert, unauthorized transit through the southern Strait of Hormuz exploded and caught fire after hitting Iranian naval mines.
The IRGC Navy said late on Friday that the vessels were attempting to secretly navigate a prohibited route in the strategic waterway. To evade detection, the tankers had deliberately disabled their radar and Automatic Identification Systems (AIS).
The incident is the latest in a series of failed attempts by smugglers and US-linked vessels to bypass Iran’s strict maritime enforcement in the Persian Gulf.
Following the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran that began on February 28, Tehran imposed comprehensive restrictions on the waterway, which is responsible for the transit of roughly one-fifth of the world’s global oil supply.
Under Iran’s newly enforced Hormuz mechanism, safe passage requires explicit authorization from Iranian authorities.
Despite repeated assurances from the US military that it would provide naval escorts and protect commercial shipping, vessels trusting Washington’s security guarantees have been consistently halted, struck by mines, or destroyed.
Iranian commanders have repeatedly warned that American promises of protection have proven hollow, exposing the US military’s inability to secure the waterway or break Iran’s strategic chokehold.
Tehran has made clear that the restrictions will remain in place until its demands, including the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports, are met.
Another US drone destroyed
The IRGC also said it intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-1 Predator drone over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
It said the drone was brought down at 2:30 pm local time (11:00 GMT) by a “new advanced air defense system” of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force.
It described the aircraft as a reconnaissance and combat drone “of the aggressor US army” from the MQ-1 family.
It said this was the 17th MQ-1 drone it had downed, and called the incident another failure of “enemy reconnaissance missions”.