Four oil tankers catch fire in the Strait of Hormuz after hitting mines, Iran says, as Tehran disputes the US claim that the sea lanes are clear

TEHRAN.- Four oil tankers caught fire after striking sea mines while trying to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's armed forces said on Thursday, October 29, 2026, a day after the United States military said it had cleared key routes through the world's most important oil waterway. The claim, which has not been independently verified, sharply escalates a standoff over the narrow strait through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil consumption passes.

"Over the past 24 hours, three violating oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking mines while attempting to pass through the unauthorised southern route of the Strait of Hormuz," Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement. The IRGC said the vessels had switched off their radar and navigation systems and ignored warnings from its navy.

Later on Thursday, Iran's army reported that a fourth tanker had caught fire east of the strait, after hitting mines while "operating in a restricted and dangerous area". Tehran did not say when exactly the incidents happened, nor which flags the tankers were flying, and no casualties have been reported from any of the incidents.

What the British maritime agency confirmed

The British maritime agency UKMTO confirmed a separate, distinct incident in the same waters. Late Thursday it received a report of a vessel on fire about 25 nautical miles (46 kilometres) northeast of Khasab, Oman, in the Strait of Hormuz. Hours later, UKMTO said the fire was extinguished and the crew were safe.

According to UKMTO, the tanker was approached on its port side by a small boat which attached two explosive devices to the hull above the waterline. "The subsequent blasts resulted in a fire in the engine room which temporarily disabled the vessel," the agency said.

UKMTO also reported two other incidents in the area: a dhow that caught fire and sank following a maritime security incident, with all crew safely evacuated, and a tanker struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. UKMTO did not identify the weapon, establish who fired it, or attribute responsibility.

A direct challenge to CENTCOM

The incidents directly challenge claims by US Central Command (CENTCOM), which runs American military operations in the region. CENTCOM had reaffirmed on social media its insistence that all mines in "primary transit routes" through the strait had been cleared.

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi challenged that claim on X: "Prove your Hormuz mine-clearing claim with independent evidence, not statements!" In its statement, the IRGC warned that "the unauthorised route through the Strait of Hormuz is mined, and that vessel owners and crews are responsible for transiting these routes and should not pay attention to CENTCOM's delusions on social media."

Iran considers ships using the southern corridor near the Omani coast unauthorised. That description is Tehran's own position, not an independently established determination of the vessels' legal status: under international law, passage through the strait is governed by transit rules, not by permission from any single coastal state.

The Associated Press reported it could not independently confirm Iran's account of the three tankers, and what remains unestablished is who laid the mines, which flags the four tankers sailed under, whether any cargo was lost, and whether the southern route remains navigable.

The timing adds to the tension: the United States has warned allies to prepare for possible fresh strikes against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, and warplanes have already been landing in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Any disruption in the Strait of Hormuz would ripple immediately into global oil prices just as Europe faces an energy squeeze before winter.

Sources: Malay Mail / AFP (October 30, 2026), The New Indian Express / AFP (October 30, 2026), Gulf News (October 30, 2026), UKMTO advisories (October 29, 2026).