Iran's IRGC Says Two Tankers Hit Mines and Caught Fire South of Strait of Hormuz

According to the IRGC, the two ships had switched off their navigation and automatic identification systems and were trying to cross by a route that Iran has not authorised. Iranian media reported that one of them was a supertanker. The Guards did not name the vessels, give their flags or say whether anyone was hurt. They said two more tankers trying to slip through turned back toward the Gulf after warnings from the IRGC's maritime traffic control centre, Türkiye Today reported.

The claim matters for every Gulf producer that ships crude, fuel and gas through the strait. It is also a warning to shipowners: Iran is telling them to coordinate their passage with Iranian authorities or risk being targeted. Before the war, about a fifth of the world's oil supply passed through the waterway that links the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Reports disagree on how many ships were involved. Most outlets carried the IRGC's figure of two tankers on Sunday. The Tribune in India, citing Iran's navies, reported that three tankers had caught fire. According to Türkiye Today, Iran's regular navy also reported a separate mine strike in the eastern part of the strait on Saturday, involving a tanker that it said had entered a prohibited zone with its tracking switched off. None of the reports included confirmation from shipping companies or maritime security agencies that any vessel had struck a mine.

Iran has been tightening its control of traffic through the strait during its confrontation with the United States. Tehran says commercial vessels must arrange passage with its authorities and has threatened ships that use routes it has not designated. Washington has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and is giving military support to merchant shipping. The US military says it has cleared the main shipping lanes of mines.

Iran's claim came on the same day that Bahrain issued its first nationwide alert in months, after Iran said it had launched drone strikes on US targets in the kingdom. The National reported that Bahraini air defences intercepted the incoming attacks. Further south, Yemeni government forces have pulled back from an area near Bab Al Mandab, leaving the Iran-aligned Houthis in control of ground overlooking the other chokepoint on the region's main shipping routes to Europe and Asia.

The economic stakes for the Gulf states are already showing up in their forecasts. In its rating review published on Sunday, Fitch said it expects roughly 7 per cent higher hydrocarbon output to carry UAE growth of 0.5 per cent this year, while non-oil GDP contracts. Those projections assume Gulf exporters can keep moving their output.

The IRGC's statement ended with a warning to shipowners not to send vessels through the strait without first coordinating with Iranian authorities.