Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on 29 October that three oil tankers caught fire and were abandoned after striking naval mines in the "unauthorised route" of the strait of Hormuz, but the claims have not been independently verified.
The claims follows previous IRGC statements attributing vessel incidents to naval mines. The US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said yesterday that Iranian media claims of vessels hitting sea mines while transiting the strait of Hormuz are false, adding that the primary transit route of the strait remained free of mines.
The IRGC Navy said the tankers struck the mines while attempting to transit the southern route of the disputed waterway with their radar and navigation systems off and while "ignoring warnings" from Iranian forces, according to Iranian news agency Tasnim.
The identities of the vessels remains unknown, and their cargoes and the status of their crews were not immediately clear.
This morning, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported that an unidentified vessel caught fire 17 km offshore Khasab, northern Oman, in the Mideast Gulf, but it is unknown if these incidents are related.
Meanwhile, the US warned commercial vessels this week to plan for additional transit times near the strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman as military operations step up the blockade of Iranian ports and coastlines in response to Iran's continued aggression.
At least 28 attacks on vessels have been reported between 1-21 October, the highest number since the start of the US-Iran war.
