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Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they hit and set fire to a supertanker in Hormuz

The Guards said the ship had switched off its transponders and ignored warnings. Hours later, a container ship was reported struck by an unknown projectile in the same waterway.

From the editorial desk · TehranPublished
A crude oil supertanker at sea
A crude oil supertanker at seaSarvesh Lutchmun / Wikimedia

Key points

  1. The IRGC Navy said a supertanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz and caught fire on Monday.
  2. Britain's maritime agency UKMTO is investigating a separate report of a container ship struck by a projectile.
  3. Brent crude rose about 2% to $106.76 a barrel as tensions grew.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday that they had struck a supertanker in the Strait of Hormuz and set it on fire, raising the stakes in the fight over Gulf shipping lanes.

The naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said “a supertanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz and caught fire”. It said the ship had tried to pass “by disabling its transponders” and “by ignoring warnings from the Guards’ Navy”. The Guards did not name the vessel or say where it was registered, and there was no word on its crew.

Late on Monday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO), which tracks shipping security in the region, said it had received a report of a container ship “being struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz”. It said the incident was under investigation. It was not clear whether the two reports were linked.

Tougher words from Tehran

Iran’s deputy navy commander, Rear Admiral Faramarz Bemani, told state television that the US Navy had pulled back from Iran’s maritime borders. “The navy will respond in such a way that they will again move further away from our borders than before,” he said. “In response to the new tactics the enemy is adopting, Iran is also adopting new tactics.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran was “finalising its response to US considerations on a proposal submitted by Iran during the UN General Assembly”, and remained ready for both diplomacy and military confrontation.

Oil prices rose. Brent crude climbed about 2% to $106.76 a barrel on Monday.

The strike comes a day after two tankers with Indian crew were hit off Oman and in the strait, leaving two Indian seafarers missing.