Three oil tankers burn after Hormuz mines, Iran Guards say

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Thursday that three oil tankers had exploded and caught fire after striking mines while trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the incidents happened over the past 24 hours on what it called an unauthorised southern route through the strait. It said the vessels had switched off radar and navigation systems and had ignored IRGC navy warnings.

The flags of the tankers, the exact timing of the incidents and any casualties were not immediately clear.

The British maritime agency UKMTO said earlier Thursday that it had received a report of a ship on fire in the strait, but gave no details about the cause or casualties. It was not immediately clear whether that report involved one of the tankers described by the Guards.

Iran has restricted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz since the Middle East war began on February 28. The waterway normally carries about one-fifth of global oil and gas consumption.

The United States has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports. Iran's armed forces have accused US Central Command of encouraging vessels to use a southern corridor near the Omani coast that Tehran considers unauthorised.

In a separate statement, the Guards said their navy had captured a US MQM-170 drone during an operation in the western Strait of Hormuz.