ILLUSTRATIVE FILE PHOTO: Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz region at night, January 23, 2016; not the reported mine incident. Photo: NASA / Tim Kopra, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Cropped and resized.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy said a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas struck a naval mine and suffered an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday while using what they described was an “unauthorized and dangerous route,” state media reported.
No details on the tanker were immediately available.
Iranian media reported on Thursday that four oil tankers were hit by explosions in the waterway vital for global shipping, adding that the vessels had ignored warnings and entered what it considers restricted areas of the strategic waterway.
Tankers face attacks throughout Strait of Hormuz
Tankers are still facing attacks across the strait, despite a rebound in traffic and expectations of a de-escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran, that have been reflected in falling oil prices.
At least 10 ships were hit in the first 10 days of November, after 37 attacks in October, which was the highest monthly tally since the conflict began in late February, according to data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
