Iranian forces say mine strikes set 4 tankers alight overnight and on 5 November; they did not state what caused fires on another tanker and an assisting tugboat.
Iranian forces say 5 oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in separate incidents in and around the Strait of Hormuz overnight and on 5 November. Their accounts attribute 4 of the tanker fires to mine strikes.
Iran has severely restricted traffic through the strait since the war on Iran began in late February. The waterway normally carries about 20% of global oil consumption, Al Jazeera said.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told the Fars news agency that a large tanker struck a mine, caught fire and stopped the previous night while attempting a passage south of the strait that the force described as illegal.
The Revolutionary Guard said a fire halted another supertanker as it exited the eastern strait, and a tugboat approaching to put out the fire also caught fire. The force did not state the cause of either fire.
Iran’s army, commonly called Artesh, a conventional military force separate from the Revolutionary Guard, said a tanker struck a naval mine, caught fire and stopped early on 5 November in an area east of the strait that it described as unsafe. Under Iran’s constitution, the army defends the country’s independence and territorial integrity, while the Revolutionary Guard safeguards the Islamic Revolution and its achievements. In a later statement, the army said 2 more tankers struck naval mines and caught fire around noon in waters east of the strait that it described as unsafe. The official IRNA news agency carried both statements.
The vessels have not been identified, and casualty information and independent confirmation of the incidents are not available.
Iranian forces said shipping would remain in danger as long as the US and Israel’s war on Iran remained unresolved. Qatar has stepped up mediation to resume talks on ending the war; its Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on 3 November that both sides were reviewing mediators' proposals and talks were continuing.
Speaking to veterans and their families at Arlington National Cemetery on 11 November, President Donald Trump predicted the conflict would end soon.
Unnamed Pentagon officials and military commanders told The New York Times on 4 November that US forces were poised to resume major combat operations against Iran on President Donald Trump’s orders. Iranian government and military leaders have warned of repercussions if the US or Israel takes further military action.
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