Four oil tankers were affected by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian military reported. According to Tehran, the vessels ignored warnings and entered areas designated as restricted.
The naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that two supertankers had been put out of operation following powerful explosions on Wednesday evening. Iranian state media reported that the vessels exploded after striking naval mines.
“The two tankers ignored repeated warnings about the unauthorized and dangerous southern route,” the statement from the Revolutionary Guard’s naval forces said.Later, the Iranian military reported that two more tankers had struck mines in the eastern part of the strait on Thursday afternoon. According to state television, the vessels had switched off their radar systems, entered a restricted area and caught fire.
Iranian authorities did not identify the tankers, their flags, their operators or the number of crew members. Reuters reported that it had been unable to independently confirm Iran’s account of the causes of the explosions.
Separate incident off Ras al-Khaimah
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported a separate incident involving a tanker that was struck by an unknown projectile about 14 nautical miles northwest of Ras al-Khaimah. As a result, a fire broke out in the engine room and the crew was evacuated.
Firefighting operations continued, while the report contained no information about casualties. It has not been established whether this incident was connected to the four tankers reported by Iran.
The incidents are taking place against the backdrop of a series of attacks and fires involving commercial vessels in the area. According to data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, at least 10 vessels were affected during the first 10 days of November, after 37 attacks were recorded in October.
Responsibility for the separate strike off Ras al-Khaimah has not been established. So far, there has been no independent confirmation either of the claim that the four tankers struck mines or of the information about the scale of the damage to the vessels.
Sources: streetinsider.com, apnews.com