Three Tankers Hit Mines in Strait of Hormuz
Three oil tankers caught fire after striking mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, November 14, Iranian naval authorities said, in the latest escalation of a shipping crisis that has sharply cut traffic through one of the world’s most important energy waterways.
Iran’s navy and the Revolutionary Guards said the vessels were trying to cross the strait through routes Tehran considers unauthorised, with their tracking systems switched off. The names, flags and cargoes of the vessels were not disclosed, and there was no word on casualties.
What Iran reported
The Revolutionary Guards’ navy said two tankers exploded and caught fire in the south of the strait late on Friday after striking a naval mine. “A short while ago, two oil tankers that had switched off their radar and positioning systems and were secretly attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorised route exploded and caught fire after striking a naval mine,” the statement said, carried by Iranian state media early on Saturday.
The Guards said one of the two vessels was a supertanker. A separate statement from Iran’s conventional navy said a third tanker, navigating east of the strait with its tracking and identification systems switched off, also struck a mine, caught fire and was forced to stop.
Iran has insisted since the war with the United States began in February that vessels must obtain its authorisation to cross the strait. Under regulations issued on October 26, ships must coordinate with the Revolutionary Guards’ Maritime Traffic Control Centre, and Tehran has attacked vessels it says violated those rules.
No independent confirmation
The reported mine strikes have not been independently confirmed. The United States military says it has cleared the main routes through the waterway of mines, and US Central Command has dismissed Tehran’s claims about mines as false. Iran’s armed forces have nevertheless reported several fires or explosions on board ships in the strait in recent weeks, usually saying the vessels had struck mines.
The Guards released footage on Friday of a large plume of smoke rising from a vessel it said was carrying liquefied gas and had hit a mine in the south of the strait.
Shipping traffic plunges
Attacks on shipping have intensified in recent weeks. At least 10 vessels were hit in the first 10 days of November, after 37 attacks in October — the highest monthly total since the war began, according to data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy cited by the Times of Israel.
The security crisis has reduced traffic through the Strait of Hormuz by about 70 percent from pre-war levels, from 130 to 140 passages a day to around 36, according to Reuters. The United States has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s choking of the strategic trade route and provides military support to tankers using the waterway.
Trump weighs restraint
The incidents came as US President Donald Trump told senior advisers in recent days that he may hold off on attacking Iran as long as it faces no new provocations from Tehran or the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Gulf allies, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have urged restraint while economic sanctions and US control of the strait continue to pressure the Iranian economy.
The reported tanker incidents follow earlier attacks in the same waterway this month, including a liquefied gas tanker that caught fire after hitting a mine on November 13 and two supertankers disabled by explosions on the night of November 11.
Why the strait matters
The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, is the narrow passage through which a large share of the world’s seaborne oil and liquefied natural gas passes. Any sustained disruption raises shipping costs, pushes up oil prices and threatens energy supplies across Asia and beyond. Brent crude settled at $95.84 a barrel on Friday, heading for a second straight weekly decline as fears of an immediate escalation eased — but traders remain on edge after each new incident.
Read more: Hormuz LNG tanker mine blast and Two supertankers destroyed in Hormuz blasts and Iran claims US radar destroyed in Bahrain
Source: Channel News Asia / AFP, Reuters via Times of Israel — November 14, 2026