A tanker caught fire and lost propulsion after striking a sea mine east of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian naval forces said. According to them, the incident occurred in a dangerous area restricted to navigation after the vessel ignored earlier warnings.
“This morning, a tanker that had violated the rules, ignored previous warnings and switched off its tracking and identification systems caught fire and lost propulsion after hitting a sea mine,” the statement said, as quoted by Iranian state television.
The Iranian side did not identify the ship, its flag, owner or the type of cargo. There is also no confirmed information about the condition of the crew, casualties, injuries or marine pollution. The claim that the cause was a mine strike has not been independently confirmed.
Tehran blamed the shipowners
In the statement, the Iranian naval forces warned that vessels entering the zone designated by Tehran east of the strait “will inevitably catch fire” if they encounter a mine. The army expressed regret that shipowners had not learned from the fate of other vessels and had instead trusted statements by US President Donald Trump.
The announcement is part of a series of Iranian claims about incidents involving commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. On November 13, the Naval Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas had struck a mine and exploded while passing along a route designated by Iran as unauthorized and dangerous. No details about the ship were provided in that case either.
Discrepancies in the incident reports
On November 12, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations service, UKMTO, separately reported that a tanker had been hit by an unidentified projectile while passing through the strait. The crew was safe, but the service did not identify the ship, its flag, the location or the origin of the projectile. The case was reclassified as an attack.
It has not been established whether this incident is connected to the Iranian naval forces’ reports of tankers striking mines. The discrepancies between the accounts remain, and there has been no public confirmation regarding the latest tanker mentioned by Tehran from an independent maritime operator or the vessel’s owner.
Sources: apnews.com, aa.com.tr, arabnews.com