Strait of Hormuz: Revolutionary Guards say four tankers were destroyed by mines and are still burning, and that they shot down a 56th MQ-9

The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) announced on Wednesday, November 4, that four tankers were destroyed when they hit sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, as they tried to pass through the southern passage that Tehran has declared off-limits. The statement, published by the state agency IRNA, says the ships were still burning, while the IRGC’s naval forces seized two more vessels for breaching navigation restrictions. These are Iranian claims and have not been independently verified.

“Four tankers that tried to cross the prohibited southern passage of the Strait of Hormuz were destroyed after hitting sea mines and are still burning,” the statement says. In the same briefing the IRGC claims its air defence shot down at 04:30 local time a US unmanned aircraft, an MQ-9, over the Strait, which it calls the 56th it has downed. The operations, it notes, were carried out by its naval and aerospace forces, which inflicted “heavy blows on the enemy”.

A series of mine claims within a week

It is not the first time the Guards have spoken of ships hit by mines. On Thursday, October 29, they announced that three tankers had hit mines, as we reported in Revolutionary Guards say three tankers hit mines, while CENTCOM insisted then that the main shipping lanes were clear of mines. On Sunday, November 1, a new announcement said two tankers had struck mines. According to the IRGC spokesman, the ships had switched off their navigation and identification systems to pass covertly “with the support of the terrorist American army”.

Tehran closed the Strait after the US-Israeli strikes of February 28 and says it will open it only if Washington ends its naval blockade and accepts the terms of Iran’s peace plan. The memorandum of understanding on freedom of navigation the two sides signed on June 18 has not been implemented, because of disagreements over security arrangements.

The message after the US elections

The announcement came hours after the US midterm elections, which gave Democrats control of Congress, and shortly after the US strikes on Qeshm island earlier in the week, which Washington attributed to IRGC fire against a US aircraft. The Guards end their statement with a warning that their fighters are ready, “with their finger on the trigger”, to deliver the “final blow” to Israel and the US.

Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X that, whether out of conscience or because of the cost of living, “the Americans said no to the war, and we endorse that message”. He added that if the US government betrays its citizens’ will to serve “international financiers and blackmailers”, “it will learn that our ‘no’ comes with a nightmare”. On Tuesday, speaking in parliament, he had warned that a new “strategic mistake” by Washington would bring it face to face with a “new battlefield”.

Donald Trump told the Financial Times the US is in full readiness “if we have to move”, but “maybe there won’t be a need”, while on CBS he said the war will end “when I say it ends”. Qatar, which is mediating between the two sides, said on Tuesday through its Foreign Ministry spokesman that both are studying the mediators’ proposals, that differences remain and that talks continue.