Iran says five tankers and a tugboat caught fire in Strait of Hormuz

Iranian forces said on Thursday that at least five oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in separate incidents in the Strait of Hormuz, making clear they believe shipping through the waterway will stay at risk while the war continues.

Since the war began in late February, Tehran has severely restricted traffic through the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption, according to the source.

What Iran says happened

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) told the Fars news agency that a large oil tanker trying to pass through what it called an illegal passageway south of the strait struck a mine, caught fire and was halted. Another supertanker was stopped by a large fire while leaving the eastern strait, and a tugboat that had approached to help extinguish it also caught fire, the IRGC said.

The Iranian army later said three more tankers hit naval mines and caught fire, according to the official IRNA news agency. One violating oil tanker caught fire in an unsafe area east of the strait early in the morning, and two others struck mines and caught fire in the same waters around noon, the army said.

Separate incident off Qatar

The British military said a tanker was struck by two projectiles about 50 nautical miles (93km) north of Qatar's Madinat ash-Shamal at 23:20 GMT on Wednesday. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency did not identify the vessel or its flag, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Last week, the Qatari liquefied natural gas carrier Al Mayeda was hit by unidentified objects in the Gulf on October 30, operator Nakilat said on Sunday. No crew members were injured, there was no environmental impact, and the vessel remained safe and operational while the impact was assessed, the company said.

UKMTO said in a report last month that it was struggling to report accurately the true number of attacks, because most ships now refuse to report them. Attacks on tankers are still running close to a record pace.

Mediation and US warnings

Qatar has stepped up mediation efforts in recent days. A foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday that both sides were reviewing proposals put forward by mediators and that talks were continuing.

Unnamed Pentagon officials and military commanders told The New York Times on Wednesday that thousands of US air and naval forces on more than a dozen ships, and at bases around the Middle East and in the US, are poised to resume major combat operations against Iran on President Donald Trump's orders.

Iranian leaders warned of repercussions. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Wednesday there should not be even the slightest inclination towards submission to the US, which he said would remain hostile whichever party was in power. IRGC Ground Force commander Brigadier General Mohammad Karami said continued hostile and brutal actions by Iran's enemies would lead to further Iranian victories and greater national pride, accelerating the expulsion of foreign powers from the region and the collapse of Israel.

Source: Al Jazeera.