Three oil tankers caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said, in the latest escalation of the tanker war that has choked one of the world's most important shipping lanes since the Iran war began in February.
An oil tanker at sea. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain.
Three tankers burning, Iran says
"Since the early hours of this morning, three non-compliant tankers have exploded and caught fire while they were sailing in the illegal channel in the Strait of Hormuz," the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement on Sunday, according to Agence France-Presse.
The Guard described the vessels as "rogue oil tankers travelling an unauthorised route" and accused them of switching off their navigation systems. It did not name the ships, their owners, their flags or their cargo, and it did not say what caused the explosions. No casualty figures have been given.
A separate account from the Revolutionary Guards Navy said two oil tankers had caught fire after hitting mines, Reuters reported, while the British maritime agency UKMTO reported that a tanker had caught fire off Khasab, Oman, a day earlier, with its crew evacuated. AFP said it could not confirm whether the various reports referred to the same incidents, and Reuters said it was not able to confirm any of the reported strikes.
Blasts on Qeshm and the US response
Iranian state media reported on Saturday evening that sounds resembling explosions were heard on Qeshm Island in the strait, as well as in the ports of Jask and Sirik and in Bandar Abbas. Iran's state television said officials had not confirmed any missile strikes on Iranian territory and suggested the blasts may have been related to Iranian military activity in the waterway. The Tasnim news agency said two missiles had struck Qeshm Island, with no official information on possible damage.
Hours earlier, the US military said its forces had disabled a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman after it ignored repeated warnings and tried to leave the area following a visit to an Iranian port. US Central Command said the St. Kitts-flagged ship was fired on late Saturday as it attempted to break the months-long American naval blockade on Iran. The US has enforced the blockade around the Strait of Hormuz since April, while Iran has sought to restrict traffic through the waterway to routes it authorizes.
President Donald Trump said on Friday that US forces had carried out limited strikes on an Iranian air defence system, after Iranian media reported explosions on Qeshm Island. There has been no sign of a large-scale American operation, which Iran has said it would answer by striking US and Israeli targets.
Aramco building hit in Riyadh
The fighting spread beyond the strait on Sunday. Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said an administrative building belonging to the state oil company Saudi Aramco in Riyadh was damaged by falling debris after an attempted attack, with no injuries or fatalities reported. Saudi air defences intercepted incoming missiles targeting the capital and other regions early Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said, accusing Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels of launching the attack. The Houthis have not claimed responsibility.
The escalation came a day after Saudi airstrikes near Yemen's capital, Sanaa, killed at least 27 people, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry.
Warnings and a possible opening
The IRGC warned on Sunday that Iran's response would be "devastating and severe" if US-Israeli attacks resume. Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said the same day that Israel's mission against Iran was "not complete," accusing Tehran of pursuing nuclear weapons, which Iran has long denied.
At the same time, diplomacy has not stopped. Qatar, which has been mediating between Washington and Tehran, denied reports on Saturday that the two sides had failed to reach a deal, and Reuters reported that Iran has submitted a nuclear proposal to Washington through Qatar. The Strait of Hormuz normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption, and the tanker war has already halted much of the region's energy exports.
Sources: Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Al Jazeera.