Iran Reports Tanker Blasts in the Strait of Hormuz; UKMTO Confirms an Incident

Status: Iranian military statements describe tanker fires and mine strikes in the Strait of Hormuz. Those claims are not an independently verified shipping record. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations office has said it received a report of an incident involving a tanker in the strait, without confirming the cause, the number of vessels, or the condition of the crew, Reuters reported via Arab News.

Tasnim, Iranian state media, said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and Iran's army separately reported fires and an explosion involving oil tankers that, in Tehran's account, were attempting to use unauthorized routes in the eastern strait and struck naval mines. The IRGC said a tanker exploded Tuesday afternoon and was burning; the army said early Wednesday that another tanker caught fire after hitting a mine in a prohibited area. Shafaq News reported a further IRGC claim on Wednesday that two more tankers had struck mines. Iranian statements did not name the ships.

Al Jazeera, citing UKMTO, reported that the agency had received reports of incidents involving two tankers in the region, and that one of them had been struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman's Lima. A Reuters account published via Arab News described a Wednesday UKMTO report of an incident involving a tanker whose crew status, damage, and environmental impact were not yet known. Those UKMTO reports should not be treated as confirmation of Iran's mine-strike claims, or as proof that the same ships are involved.

Rezaei: the strait stays shut until conditions are met

Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei told Lebanon's Al Mayadeen television that the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until the United States meets Tehran's seven conditions, Al Jazeera reported. Iran has not released the full list. Rezaei and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have said it includes lifting sanctions and the U.S. naval blockade, and ending the fighting on all fronts, especially Israel's attacks on Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera. Araghchi has said the strait could be reopened within two days if the demands are met.

Rezaei also dismissed reports of talks with Washington. Claims "about continuing negotiations or holding a meeting in Qatar is a pure lie," he said, according to Al Jazeera, and he described the United States' "initial response" to the conditions as "insufficient and deceptive." That denial sits alongside President Trump's public remarks about "positive momentum" toward the end of the conflict, which are covered in Trump Says Iran War Is Ending 'Fairly Soon'; Bessent Moved to a Military Base After Iranian Threats, Reports Say.

Tehran has for months described some shipping corridors as unauthorized and has blamed vessels for using routes it does not approve. The United States has maintained a naval blockade of Iranian ports and has escorted some tankers through the waterway, which carried a substantial share of seaborne oil before the war. Those background facts do not, by themselves, establish what happened to any particular ship this week.

A U.S. Treasury spokesperson, in a separate statement about threats against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, said the administration remains committed to the blockade and to a sanctions campaign aimed at Iran's economy. That relocation is covered here: Trump Says Iran War Is Ending 'Fairly Soon'; Bessent Moved to a Military Base After Iranian Threats, Reports Say.