DUBAI: An oil tanker caught fire on Wednesday in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz after hitting a naval mine in a “restricted area”, Iran’s Army said in a statement carried by state media.
Iran’s army said Wednesday that an oil tanker had struck a mine and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, where the country has been targeting ships that transit without its authorisation.
Since the outbreak of the Middle East war in late February, Tehran has heavily restricted traffic through the strategic waterway, insisting vessels use routes authorised by the Islamic republic. The United States has in response imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and helped tankers travel the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil. The American military recently claimed all mines had been cleared from the strait.
“Early this morning, a violating oil tanker caught fire after striking a naval mine in an unsafe, prohibited area in the east of the Strait of Hormuz,” the naval forces of Iran’s army said in a statement carried by state TV. In recent weeks Tehran has made multiple announcements saying ships had caught fire in the strait, often claiming they struck mines.
US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the region, has been escorting ships through the waterway and said last month that it had helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil via Hormuz since the summer.
On Tuesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, said three other oil tankers had caught fire in the strait.
