TEHRAN / DOHA — Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said two oil tankers 'exploded' after striking mines while travelling through an 'unauthorized route' in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported on Sunday, Reuters reported. Iran has imposed restrictions on vessels seeking to pass through the strait and has attacked ships it says violate those restrictions, as it seeks to assert control over the strategic waterway and exert pressure on the US, Reuters added.

Source: Reuters, Nov 1

Iranian state media reports carried further Guards detail: one of the vessels, a supertanker, was said to have caught fire after a powerful explosion, and both ships were said to have been left immobilised. The Guards did not name the vessels or give any information on their crews, and the claims could not be independently verified.

Source: Iranian state media, via The Insight International, Nov 1

A second report the same day: a Mayday call and an 'unknown projectile'

Earlier on Sunday, Britain's UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said a vessel had been struck by 'an unknown projectile' in the strait. 'The master of a merchant vessel has relayed a Mayday call... stating that another vessel has been struck by an unknown projectile,' UKMTO said, in a report carried by AFP. It was not clear whether the UKMTO alert and the Guards' statement referred to the same vessels.

Source: AFP, Nov 1

Sunday's reports follow a separate incident on Friday, when the Qatari liquefied natural gas carrier Al Mayeda was hit by 'unidentified objects' while sailing in the Gulf, its owner, the Qatar Gas Transport Company, said in a statement published on Sunday. No crew member was injured and no environmental damage was reported in that incident. Al Jazeera reported that more than 120 commercial ships have been hit since the US-Israel war on Iran began in February, citing data from the International Maritime Organization and UKMTO.

Source: Al Jazeera, Nov 1

Why this waterway matters to readers in Punjab and the Gulf

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow exit from the Gulf for a large share of the world's seaborne oil and gas, and the Gulf states employ lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers — including seafarers and port and energy workers whose routes and jobs run through these waters. Iran says ships must follow the routes it authorises through the strait; every new mine or projectile report raises the risk for crews, pushes up shipping costs, and is watched closely by governments and energy markets. No crew information had been released for Sunday's reported incidents at the time of reporting.