Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said late on Monday that an oil tanker had struck a sea mine and exploded in the Strait of Hormuz.
The tanker El Gaia was travelling along the southern route through the strait, which was mined by Iran, state broadcaster IRIB reported, citing the IRGC. The entire vessel went up in flames following the detonation of the mine, it said.
The US military rejected that account.
“The Panama-flagged oil tanker El Gaia was struck by an Iranian missile last month and rendered inoperable. This weekend, Iran struck the tanker again with a drone while the ship sat in waters off the coast of Oman,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media.
“The tanker is currently being towed by a regional partner. The IRGC’s false claim is yet another example of their lies and intimidation attempts while they try to impede commercial vessels in the strait.”
The IRGC’s naval command reportedly stated that “the Strait of Hormuz is closed and remains under our control”. It had previously warned against using the southern route. The navy has mined the southern passage, declared only a northern route along the Iranian coast to be safe and is charging fees for passage.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a central point of contention between Tehran and Washington in the Iran war. Before the war, around a fifth of the world’s oil supply passed through the strait. Liquefied natural gas and fertiliser from the Gulf states are also exported via this route.
A meeting of foreign ministers from Gulf states scheduled for this Monday to discuss the Strait of Hormuz was cancelled at short notice.
Elsewhere, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched a new attack on Saudi Arabia on Monday, raising concerns the Middle East conflict could spread further and threaten global oil supplies.
The Houthis on Monday said they fired dozens of missiles and drones at a military airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots in retaliation for Saudi air strikes in Yemen.
Saudi authorities issued emergency alerts there and in three other southern cities.
The action followed an attack on Saudi Arabia on Friday, which Riyadh blamed on Iran-backed fighters in Iraq. That knocked out the country’s east-west pipeline, which allows Gulf oil exports to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
Further pressuring global oil supplies, the Houthis have advanced rapidly in Yemen in recent days, capturing territory including Perim Island at the mouth of the Red Sea on Friday.
The renewed Yemen conflict poses another challenge for US President Donald Trump, who faces pressure from Gulf allies to help contain the Houthis but has sought to avoid opening a major new front.
Saudi Arabia has led a coalition battling the Houthis since 2015, but the conflict had largely quietened under a ceasefire in recent years. Fighting reignited this month, with the Houthis pushing back forces aligned with the internationally recognised government.
Three sources have told Reuters that Washington has so far resisted Saudi requests for direct military intervention beyond intelligence support. Trump said over the weekend he had spoken with the crown prince and that the Houthis had also contacted Washington urging it to stay out of the conflict.
Saudi state media reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met US regional commander Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah on Monday.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates 82,000 Yemenis have fled fighting since the start of the month as the Houthis swept into cities, including the historic Red Sea port of Mocha in Yemen last week.
Aisha Muhammad, an elderly woman burning twigs to heat a kettle in government-held territory near Taiz in southwestern Yemen, told Reuters she had left behind two daughters and three sons who had been unable to escape.
“They can’t even go out to the market to get food and drinking water. They are being blocked and shot at, so they are trapped inside their homes,” she said. “They cannot reach us, and we cannot return to them. This is a trial from God.”
Source: Reuters
-Agencies
