Iran says supertanker hit a mine in Hormuz as a second tanker is attacked off Saudi coast

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz and burst into flames, and they repeated their warning that the waterway is closed to ships that do not follow Tehran’s rules.

The Guards said the tanker had been trying to pass “illegally” along a route they had not authorised. Their statement said the ship “struck a mine, triggering an explosion and a fierce fire”. It did not name the vessel, its flag or where in the strait it was hit, and there was no word on the crew. Iranian state media released footage of the fire.

Hours earlier, a tanker was attacked off the Saudi coast, deep inside the Gulf. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) said a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat struck the vessel’s aft port quarter about 78 nautical miles northeast of Jubail, at 12:52 am IST on Saturday.

Indian crew safe

Late on Friday, Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said 15 Indian seafarers aboard a crude oil tanker that was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz earlier that day were safe. The ship was not named.

A week of attacks

The UKMTO said at least 12 ships were attacked in the week to 16 October, and that it was “struggling to accurately report true number of attacks” because most vessels no longer report to it. Of the 12, six reached port or carried on, one sank, two were disabled and three were damaged or their fate was unclear. The first half of October has seen more attacks on shipping than any period since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on 28 February.

Brent crude touched $110 a barrel on Friday, the first time since May. Crude flows through the strait in the seven days to 13 October averaged 11.6 million barrels a day, about two-thirds of the pre-war level of 17.1 million, according to the ship-tracking firm Kpler.

Rival claims of control

Both sides insist they hold the strait. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, said in a video message: “The Strait of Hormuz is controlled by the United States and our regional partners, not Iran.” Washington says it has cleared the channel of mines and that ships are being hit by projectiles, not mines. The Guards say the strait is unsafe for any ship that does not coordinate with their Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a body set up during the war.

Iran’s acting defence minister, Majid Ibn Reza, said on Saturday that Iranian missiles, not American bombs, would decide how the war ends. Addressing Washington, he said: “Your bombs will explode elsewhere: in your global reputation, the US economy, and even your electoral calculations!” On Friday night, the army spokesman, Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, claimed US warships had been forced to stay more than 500 km from Iran’s shores.

Pakistan and Qatar are still carrying messages between the two sides, but no breakthrough is in sight.