TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed on Friday that three oil tankers caught fire and exploded while travelling through routes it considers unauthorised in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state media carried the statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy. According to the Guards, one tanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil struck a naval mine.
Iranian authorities also accused the vessels of using restricted routes through the strategic waterway. The Guards claimed the tankers had disabled their navigation equipment and ignored warnings before encountering the reported hazards.
Reuters could not independently verify the incidents. In a separate claim, Iran said its forces had destroyed an unmanned US vessel in the eastern Strait of Hormuz.
The US military had not confirmed that incident when Reuters published its account. Britain’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) separately received reports of maritime incidents in the strait on Thursday.
Read: Iran Says Tanker Hits Mine, Catches Fire South of Hormuz
One report concerned a vessel on fire northeast of Khasab, Oman. UKMTO’s warning did not establish a connection between that incident and Iran’s claims about the three tankers.
Iran has restricted shipping through parts of the waterway during the ongoing regional conflict. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed.
Read: Saudi Arabia Tanker Attacks: UKMTO Reports Two Incidents
On Friday, three oil tankers caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian forces destroyed an unmanned US vessel. Neither claim has independent confirmation.
