The authorities of Iran have communicated this Saturday that two supertankers have ended up engulfed in flames after suffering impacts with naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a key enclave for the global transport of crude oil.
"This morning a second illegal supertanker has exploded in flames after the impact against a naval mine," the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has informed in a statement disseminated by official media.
According to Tehran's version, this second vessel "also carried more than two million barrels of crude" and would have deactivated "all its positioning and radar systems" in order to cross the Strait of Hormuz without permission from the Iranian authorities.
"It tried to pass through an illegal route and impacted with a mine, which caused a huge explosion in the engine room and left the illegal vessel stranded," the Revolutionary Guard explained, which holds the tanker responsible for violating the rules imposed in the area.
Hours earlier, the Revolutionary Guard itself had already reported another explosion recorded in a first supertanker, which it also accuses of trying to cross the strait "illegally" and without the authorization required by Iran.
In this previous case, the vessel would have also turned off "all its positioning and radar systems" to try to cross the maritime passage in a "deceptive" manner, according to the account provided by Iranian forces.
Without specifying the flag or origin of the supertanker, the Revolutionary Guard has maintained that the ship had the "support of the U.S. army of smugglers and terrorists," in a new direct accusation against Washington.
In this context, Iranian commanders have reiterated their warning that the Strait of Hormuz "is closed, and that the consequence of ships violating Iranian rules in the maritime enclave is that they will burn in the fire of the trust of the U.S. terrorist army."
For its part, the British Navy's maritime trade agency (UKMTO, for its acronym in English) has not confirmed these incidents in Hormuz, although it has reported the attack with a self-propelled grenade type RPG launched from a small boat against a vessel near Al Yubail, on the coast of Saudi Arabia, on Friday afternoon.
Likewise, the UKMTO has indicated that the armed guards of a natural gas tanker fired two warning shots to force a small vessel to change course after it had previously fired two shots when the ship was about 140 nautical miles south of Mukalla (Yemen), near the strategic Bab el Mandeb passage. Seven people were on the attacking boat.
Iran has restricted transit through the Strait of Hormuz in response to the bombings by U.S. and Israeli aviation over its territory, a decision that has driven up international oil prices by affecting one of the main routes for crude oil out of the Middle East. Meanwhile, in the vicinity of Bab el Mandeb, attacks linked to the presence of Houthi militias, allies of Tehran, have been recorded.