Iran Says It Has Halted Three Oil Tankers Passing Through the Strait of Hormuz

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday said they had prevented three oil tankers from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions between Iran and the United States continue to escalate over control of the strategic waterway.

In recent weeks, Iran has targeted tankers using a shipping route close to Oman's coastline, seeking to pressure vessels into passing through Iranian waters and paying for safe passage.

According to a statement carried by Iranian state media, the Guards claimed that three oil tankers, allegedly encouraged by the US military, attempted to use a route south of the Strait of Hormuz that Iran said had been mined.

"Three oil tankers, provoked and tempted by the child-killing American army, were trying to pass through the mine-laid route south of the Strait of Hormuz. After one of them exploded and caught fire, the other two quickly turned around and retreated," the statement said.

The Revolutionary Guards did not specify when the incident occurred.

The statement added that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy maintained control over the Strait of Hormuz and warned that any vessel attempting to transit the waterway without coordinating with Iran "will suffer the same fate."