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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on October 17 said a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil caught fire after striking a sea mine in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement, the IRGC Navy said the tanker was attempting to transit the strait along an unauthorized route and had deliberately switched off its positioning and radar systems to evade Iranian maritime monitoring. It added that the tanker was attempting the crossing under the protection of the U.S. military rather than coordinating its passage with Iranian authorities.
The Corps referred to the U.S. military as the “smuggler and terrorist army” and blamed the tanker’s decision to disable its tracking systems and rely on American protection for the incident.
The incident comes amid an increase in attacks on commercial shipping in the Gulf. Two tankers were targeted in separate incidents off Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast over the past day, well outside the Strait of Hormuz, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
One tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile about 68 nautical miles northeast of the Saudi port of Al Jubail, prompting the evacuation of its crew. All crew members were reported safe, and no environmental impact had been reported at the time.
The other tanker was attacked about 78 nautical miles northeast of Al Jubail. The vessel’s master reported that a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat had damaged the vessel’s aft port quarter, according to UKMTO. All crew members were accounted for and reported safe.
Despite the increase in attacks on ships, the U.S. has largely refrained from resuming strikes against Iranian maritime capabilities, according to an Axios report published on October 16.
The news website reported that the White House had ordered U.S. forces to almost completely halt strikes against Iranian anti-ship missiles and attack-drone launchers in the Strait of Hormuz area in recent weeks.
The pause is intended to avoid escalating the war ahead of the November 3 U.S. midterm elections, Axios reported, citing a U.S. official. The official acknowledged that the reduced strikes had made the Islamic Republic more confident about attacking shipping.
Washington has maintained its sanctions and naval blockade against Iran while diplomatic efforts to end the war remain unresolved, with Tehran yet to respond to a U.S. proposal being discussed with Qatari mediators, according to Axios.
The attacks off Saudi Arabia suggest that the threat to commercial shipping is extending beyond the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran is seeking to assert greater control over maritime traffic through the waterway.
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intercepting smuggling missions ? only iran knows where the sea mines are located.
victory to iran and ansar allah!
death to servants of zionism (regimes of saudi arabia, jordan, egypt, uae, qatar, kuwait, morocco etc…)!
while all this is happening, qatar, late november and abu dhabi, early december believe that they are still going to hold their f1 races. bahrain canceled at their track and held ‘their’ race in malaysia. wonder what they know that the rest of the world doesn’t…or are they in fantasy land?
i thought these were cancelled and moved to other locations. without shipping who will supply ?
iran might offer to supply at great a price. for entertainment, just to see the response. :)
who would have thought the orange taco would be tacoing so much to the ayatollahs and the houthie goatherders right before the midterms.
the gop is kaput.
perfect protection. with that amount of fire no led lamps are required.