Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said four oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said two of the vessels were still burning and that two additional tankers were intercepted trying to use a prohibited southern route in the strait. BBC Verify investigated the claims and has not found any evidence that four tankers were destroyed. In a separate incident, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said a tanker was struck by two unknown projectiles about 14 nautical miles (26 km) northeast of Limah, in Oman’s Musandam peninsula, on Tuesday evening, with no casualties reported. The IRGC also said it had shot down another US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has been effectively closed since the start of the Iran war, because of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and the US naval blockade.