The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Tuesday that several commercial ships triggered explosions in the Strait of Hormuz after entering restricted zones and ignoring maritime alerts. The IRGC Navy reported that three oil tankers disabled their navigation and identification systems before striking naval mines, causing fires that led to the ships being abandoned on the waterway’s southern shores.
The latest incidents follow a claim by the IRGC that 11 tankers have been set ablaze or sunk since Oct 25, a date that coincided with a regional visit by U.S. Central Command commander Admiral Brad Cooper. While Iran has not named the tankers involved, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported nine separate vessel attacks in the area over that same 9 day period.
