Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said early Wednesday that naval mines had destroyed four oil tankers attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, the paramilitary force's largest single claim yet in a pattern of disputed mine incidents that has recurred roughly monthly since Iran effectively closed parts of the strait earlier this year.
The IRGC has repeatedly said the mines target vessels using a southern route through the strait that Tehran has unilaterally declared off-limits to ships it considers in violation of its restrictions. Previous claims in September and October described two or three tankers struck at a time; none named the vessels, gave their flags, or confirmed casualties, and U.S. Central Command has disputed several of the earlier incidents outright, saying in one case that American forces had already cleared mines from the relevant shipping lanes before Iran's statement.
A year of disrupted shipping
The strait, through which roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil normally passes, has been intermittently unusable for commercial traffic since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Washington has since imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports, and both sides have traded accusations over mines, missile fire and drone attacks across the Gulf for months. Shipping insurers have added war-risk surcharges on Gulf routes repeatedly since the spring, and several major carriers have rerouted tankers around the Cape of Good Hope rather than risk the strait.
As of Wednesday morning, U.S. officials had not confirmed Wednesday's claim, continuing a pattern in which Iranian and American accounts of strait incidents have diverged sharply throughout the conflict. Energy traders were watching for any move in Brent crude once markets opened, after earlier mine claims this year produced brief but sharp price spikes before fading as the reports went unconfirmed.
