TEHRAN — Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said on Thursday that three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking sea mines while attempting to navigate an unauthorised route south of the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

Source: IRNA via Media Selangor

In its statement, the IRGC said the incidents occurred over the past 24 hours, leaving the tankers stranded along the southern coast of the waterway. It said the vessels had switched off their radar and navigation systems and ignored warnings from the navy as they attempted to leave through the unauthorised southern route.

The claim has not been independently confirmed. The Associated Press was unable to immediately verify Iran's account, and the IRGC did not identify the tankers, their flags or any information about casualties among their crews.

Source: WorldBeat / AP

Separately on Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) reported that a vessel transiting the strait had seen another vessel on fire off Khasab, on Oman's Musandam Peninsula. No connection between that sighting and the three tankers named in the IRGC statement has been established, and UKMTO gave no information about that crew's condition.

The IRGC warned that the southern route is mined, held the vessels' owners and crews responsible for using it, and urged crews not to rely on what it called "illusions" promoted by the United States Central Command on social media. "Facts on the ground will speak for themselves. Any provocative action backed by the aggressive and terrorist US military that disregards the regulations governing the strait will be met with a firm response," the statement read.

Why the strait matters

The Strait of Hormuz is the world's most important oil chokepoint, carrying roughly a fifth of globally traded crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Any verified disruption there matters directly to Punjabi and Indian workers across the Gulf, to tanker crews, and to fuel prices in India and Canada. Awaaz Punjab is treating the three-tanker claim as an Iranian statement, not a verified event, until independent confirmation — vessel identities, tracking data or a second maritime authority — emerges.