An oil tanker at sea. Image: ImagePerson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Four oil tankers were hit by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz this week, Iran's military said on Thursday, in the latest escalation of attacks on shipping through the world's most important oil waterway.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said two supertankers were disabled by explosions on Wednesday night after they ignored warnings against using what Tehran calls an "unauthorised route" through the southern part of the strait. Iranian state media reported that both vessels exploded after hitting naval mines, and broadcast what it said was video footage of the incidents. The two ships were carrying a combined cargo of more than four million barrels of oil and were left burning, according to the Revolutionary Guards.
Iran's army later said two more tankers had struck mines on Thursday afternoon while sailing through the eastern Strait of Hormuz after ignoring warnings and disabling their radar systems. The tankers entered a restricted area and subsequently caught fire, Iranian state television reported.
UK maritime agency confirms a vessel was struck
The Iranian account could not be independently verified, Reuters reported. But the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said in reports on Thursday that a vessel was hit by an unidentified projectile about 14 nautical miles northwest of the UAE emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah on Wednesday while exiting the strait, causing a fire in its engine room. Firefighting efforts were under way and all crew had been evacuated, the agency said.
The attacks continued despite a rebound in traffic through the strait and expectations of a de-escalation in the war between the United States and Iran, which had been reflected in falling oil prices. At least 10 ships were hit in the first 10 days of November, after 37 attacks in October — the highest monthly tally since the conflict began in late February, according to data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
US military insists the strait remains open
The United States military, which is enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports and escorting commercial vessels through the waterway, insisted the strait remains open. US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command (CENTCOM), told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that traffic through the strait "continues to flow" and rejected the suggestion that Iran controls the waterway.
"Since early May, we have assisted commercial vessels moving more than 900 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz to the global energy market," Hawkins said. "We have redirected more than 100 ships that were trying to violate the blockade. The strait is open. Those lanes are open. And that is why commercial vessels continue to flow through them."
The competing claims underline how contested the narrow waterway has become. Iran has declared the southern route near Omani waters unauthorised and mined, and says it requires prior authorisation for transit, confining safe passage to designated northern corridors. The US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28, and the strait — through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil normally passes — has been at the centre of the conflict ever since.
What happens next
The latest tanker explosions come as Iran has laid out conditions for reopening the strait and resuming formal negotiations with the United States, including the removal of US sanctions and an end to the naval blockade of Iranian ports. Tehran has said it will keep the waterway closed until Washington meets its demands, while the Trump administration has said it does not need a deal with Iran. With both sides holding firm and tankers still being hit, the standoff over the strait shows no sign of easing.
Sources: Reuters; The Jerusalem Post; UKMTO; Al Jazeera; Press TV.