Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy said on Friday, November 13, that a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) struck a naval mine and suffered an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz while using what the Guards described as an "unauthorised and dangerous route", Iranian state media reported. No details of the tanker — its name, flag or crew — were immediately available, and there was no independent confirmation of the incident.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

In the statement reported by the Iranian public broadcaster IRIB, the Guards said the vessel was in the eastern part of the strait and, ignoring repeated warnings, tried to travel along the southern route, which Tehran calls unauthorised and dangerous, causing a massive explosion when it collided with a naval mine. The Guards said the vessel caught fire after the blast.

Source: Europa Press via Democrata, Nov 13, 2026

The LNG vessel is the latest in a run of tanker incidents Tehran has reported in the strait this week. On Thursday, Iran said four oil tankers in total had been hit after two more struck mines and caught fire in eastern Hormuz — the earlier development this story follows. Read: Iran says two more tankers hit mines in eastern Hormuz — four struck in two days

Guards warn other ships: "the same fate"

The Guards said the LNG vessel had not learned from the experience of the previous tankers that exploded and had travelled with the support of American fighter jets, referring to the protection the United States offers ships using the southern maritime route. The statement warned that any vessel attempting to cross through that area would meet the same fate as the previous vessels, and said the strait is managed by Iran with complete determination. These are the Guards' own claims and wording, reported as such; Washington had not commented on the LNG incident in the reports available at publication time.

Source: Europa Press via Democrata, Nov 13, 2026

Why Hormuz matters — and the Punjabi and Indian crews in the Gulf

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which a large share of the world's seaborne oil and liquefied natural gas passes, including Qatar's LNG exports. Tankers are still facing attacks across the strait despite a rebound in traffic and expectations of a de-escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran, which began with strikes on February 28 and has since spread across the region, Reuters reported. Thousands of Punjabi and Indian seafarers and Gulf-based workers crew and support the shipping that moves through the strait, which is why every new mine or missile incident there is watched closely by families back home as well as by oil markets.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

Tehran has declared the strait closed as a consequence of the offensive launched in February by the United States and Israel, and says only transit along routes authorised by its armed forces is safe. Washington argues there is no such blockade because it maintains a military presence at the outer part of the passage and escorts vessels so that energy exports continue. The two positions remain in direct contradiction, and neither side's account of Friday's explosion has been independently verified.

Source: Europa Press via Democrata, Nov 13, 2026

What happens next

Shipping and insurance markets will watch for the tanker's identity, any statement from its owner or flag state, and any US or Gulf-state response. With at least 10 ships hit in the first 10 days of November after 37 attacks in October, the pattern reported by Reuters points to a strait that remains dangerous even as traffic rebounds — and every further incident pushes up the risk premium on the oil and gas that India and the world import through it.