Iran’s IRGC says two oil tankers catch fire in Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says fires broke out aboard two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz after they took a route Tehran considers unauthorised.

“One of these vessels, a supertanker, hit a naval mine and exploded, and the second tanker, which was under the protection of the US aggressor’s fighter jets and was attempting to secretly pass through the illegal route, had an accident and was stopped in its place with a terrible fire,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iranian state television.

The IRGC repeated its warning that “the unauthorised route is unsafe and all ships cooperating with the terrorist and aggressive US army that intend to pass through this route will suffer this fate”.