IRGC announces destruction of four ships in Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said four oil tankers were destroyed after striking naval mines while trying to traverse a route described as prohibited south of the key waterway of the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement, the elite corps said the tankers were still ablaze, and added that two other vessels had been seized.

On Sunday, the IRGC announced that two oil tankers had hit Iranian mines while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The tankers “were in violation of regulations,” the spokesperson said, explaining that they were traveling on “an unauthorized route in the Strait.”

The IRGC spokesperson added that oil tankers had switched off the navigation and identification systems, as they wanted “to pass covertly through an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz with the support of the terrorist US military.”

An oil tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz was also hit by an unknown projectile earlier on Sunday, the United Kingdom Maritime and Trade Operations (UKMTO) Center announced.

Esther Davis contributed to this report.