Strait of Hormuz: Iran says five oil tankers and tugboat caught fire from naval mines

Five oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after striking naval mines, Iranian armed forces said on Thursday.

The claims, issued in separate statements by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the regular army, point to fresh disruptions across a sea passage that normally handles a fifth of global petroleum shipments. Independent commercial shipping bodies have not yet verified the incidents.

What happened in the strait

According to the Revolutionary Guards, the fires began overnight when a large crude carrier struck a naval mine in waters south of the strait. A second supertanker caught fire while exiting the eastern entrance of the waterway, followed shortly by a tugboat that had moved in to extinguish the blaze.

Hours later, the Iranian army reported three additional strikes in the open waters east of the channel. One vessel was halted early Thursday morning, and two more struck mines around midday.

Unconfirmed reports and regional monitoring

While Tehran maintains that all six vessels were in unauthorised or unsafe waters, international shipping bodies have not substantiated the full scale of the reported losses.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported a separate incident roughly 50 nautical miles off the northern coast of Qatar, roughly 500 kilometres west of Hormuz. In that incident, two unidentified projectiles struck a commercial tanker. The agency did not detail casualties or structural damage.

The Revolutionary Guards also stated that their naval electronic warfare unit intercepted two American-made LUCAS combat attack drones in the area.

Traffic through Hormuz has faced heavy restrictions since regional hostilities escalated in late February. The United States military previously reported escorting commercial traffic through the passage, noting that 1.5 billion barrels of regional crude had moved safely past the strait since the summer months.

India's energy lifeline

For India, maritime safety throughout the Gulf is an immediate strategic priority. A significant share of the nation's imported crude flows through Hormuz, making calm waters indispensable for domestic fuel prices and industrial momentum.

New Delhi has kept communications open across West Asian capitals, relying on diplomatic balance and maritime monitoring to safeguard Indian-flagged vessels and protect supply continuity. By maintaining strong bilateral relationships with both Gulf states and Tehran, Indian diplomacy remains focused on preventing wider trade shocks, ensuring cargo routes stay dependable even as tensions test regional waterways.