Tankers Catch Fire in Strait of Hormuz as Iran Claims Mine Strikes
Written by AI from gulfnews.com's report. Not checked by a person.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed four oil tankers struck naval mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz; Oman evacuated 25 sailors from one stricken vessel as the US said it had already cleared the main transit route of mines.
On October 31, 2026 — Day 244 of the ongoing US-Israel military campaign against Iran, which began February 28 — Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy claimed that four oil tankers struck naval mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, alleging the vessels had used what it called 'unauthorised routes' through the waterway. UK Maritime Trade Operations independently confirmed a separate incident: a crude oil tanker was struck by an unknown projectile south of Lavan Island. Oman dispatched rescue crews and evacuated 25 sailors from a Panama-flagged tanker that caught fire approximately 1.6 nautical miles off the Musandam peninsula. No fatalities were officially reported. Tehran has been restricting maritime traffic through the strait since the broader Middle East conflict escalated; roughly one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil passes through the narrow waterway. US Central Command chief General Brad Cooper said US forces had 'successfully cleared the strait's internationally recognised primary transit routes of Iranian sea mines' in a video released on the same day, directly contradicting the Iranian narrative and underlining sharply divergent accounts of conditions in one of the world's most critical shipping corridors. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's air defences intercepted and destroyed a hostile drone over the Riyadh region.
