Iran says three more oil tankers have struck naval mines in and around the Strait of Hormuz. The navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two tankers exploded and caught fire in the south of the waterway. Iranian state television carried the statement early on Saturday, Citizen Digital reported.
According to the Guards, the two ships had switched off their radar and positioning systems. They were trying to cross secretly by an unauthorised route, the Guards said. One of them was a supertanker. In a separate statement, Iran's regular navy said a third tanker hit a mine east of the strait. It said the ship was sailing through a "prohibited zone" with its tracking systems off. It then caught fire and was forced to stop. Neither statement named the vessels or said where they came from.
On Friday, the IRGC released footage of a large plume of smoke rising from a ship. The Guards said the vessel was carrying liquefied gas and had hit a mine in the south of the strait, Al Jazeera reported. The US military says it has cleared the main routes through the waterway of mines.
Since war broke out with the United States in February, Tehran has demanded that ships get its permission to cross the strait, Citizen Digital reported. Iran has attacked ships that do not comply. Washington has responded with a naval blockade of Iranian ports. It also gives military support to tankers using the route. Iran's armed forces have reported several fires and explosions on ships in the strait in recent weeks.
On Saturday, the United Nations said 25 seafarers had been killed in and around Hormuz since February, Al Jazeera reported. UN official Khaled Khiari said the situation "cannot become new normal". A UN official also urged Iran and the United States to let fertiliser shipments through the strait, France 24 reported.