Revolutionary Guards say mines halted tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, including a supertanker with 2 million barrels

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday, 20 October, that naval mines it had laid halted oil tankers trying to cross the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz, and that a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude exploded and caught fire after striking a mine. The claims come from Iranian state outlets and have not been independently confirmed; the vessels were not named.

According to AFP, the first statement, carried on the IRGC’s Sepah News website, said two tankers were “set ablaze and halted due to the explosion of mines” planted at what the Guards called an “illegal crossing point”. A later statement on state television described a third vessel, the supertanker, which the IRGC said had “deactivated all of its radar and navigation systems” before it struck a naval mine south of the strait. Press TV, the Iranian state broadcaster, put the second statement at about 19:02 UTC and quoted the IRGC Navy as saying the ship was leaving through an “unauthorized southern passage”.

What is missing from the account

Neither AFP nor CBS News, which kept a live page on the Iran war through the day, reported a notice from a maritime authority or a statement from US Central Command (CENTCOM) on these specific incidents. The IRGC did not give the tankers’ names, flags, owners or crew numbers, did not say whether anyone was hurt and did not say when the explosions happened. The count also differs between reports: early copy spoke of two tankers, later copy of three.

CBS noted that President Donald Trump declared the strait free of mines at the end of August, saying US forces had “totally cleared the strait of mines”. That is the American position; the Guards’ statements on 20 October say the opposite. Geopolitiki cannot settle the question from the material available.

The southern route and the two blockades

Since the war began on 28 February, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran, according to AFP, Iranian forces have repeatedly targeted ships using a southern route close to the Omani coast. Tehran requires vessels to coordinate with its naval authorities and obtain permission before transiting, and treats ships that do not as violators. The IRGC Navy warned on Tuesday that owners and crews using unauthorised routes would be held responsible. Washington, for its part, has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports and ships and is seeking to escort more vessels through the strait.

Maj. Gen. Mostafa Izadi, the deputy IRGC commander, said in the Press TV account that Iranian naval and aerospace units maintain operational and intelligence control over the strait: “This situation will continue for as long as the Islamic Republic of Iran decides.” Separately, Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, said Tehran is using low-cost weapons against expensive American equipment and that if the enemy commits further errors, “we will neutralize the impact of their expensive, advanced equipment”, AFP reported.

The Guards made the same kind of claim on 17 October, when they said a supertanker had exploded on a mine on an “unapproved” route, as Geopolitiki reported in Hormuz: Revolutionary Guards say a supertanker exploded on a mine on an “unapproved” route – UKMTO: traffic 70% down. In the early hours of 20 October the IRGC also said it had shot down another American MQ-9 drone over the strait, a claim covered in Revolutionary Guards claim they shot down a US MQ-9 over the Strait of Hormuz – threats against the seven undersea internet cables. CBS said it could not confirm that claim either.

Why the strait matters

In peacetime the strait carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil, which is why each reported mine strike is followed by shipping and energy markets. For the background on the passage and its legal status, see Strait of Hormuz explained: why the narrow passage matters.

What happens next depends on whether shipping data, a maritime authority or CENTCOM confirms or contradicts the Guards’ account. Until then, the mine strikes, the tanker count and the cargo size rest on the IRGC’s own statements as relayed by AFP and Iranian state media.