BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 3. Three oil tankers
have hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz while using routes deemed
illegal since last night, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC).
Since the mentioned oil tankers had disabled their tracking and
GPS systems, explosions and fires occurred after they struck mines
in the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC noted that the regulations established by Iran for the
Strait of Hormuz have been repeatedly communicated to all vessels
via radio, asserting that non-compliance and support for the U.S.
military led to the incidents.
The event marks a fresh escalation in U.S.-Iran hostilities that
flared on July 8, when U.S. forces launched airstrikes against
targets in Iran, the first since a bilateral memorandum was signed,
in retaliation for an earlier attack on a commercial vessel in the
strait. Following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement
terminating the ceasefire, Tehran retaliated with strikes on U.S.
facilities across Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and
Omani territory. The ongoing conflict has effectively brought
commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz to a standstill.
