Both attacks on merchant shipping and the propaganda war are continuing in the Strait of Hormuz, with competing claims from Washington and Tehran. On 17 October 2026, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced that two oil tankers had caught fire after striking naval mines south of the Strait of Hormuz while attempting to use a route not authorised by Tehran. On 19 October, it issued another statement claiming that a third tanker had been hit in the same area. US Central Command (Centcom), however, rejected the initial account in a post on X: "Like most claims made by the Revolutionary Guards, it is false." None of the vessels has yet been identified. The statement concerning 17 October was carried by the Iranian state news agency IRNA. According to the Revolutionary Guards, the vessels had switched off their positioning systems and radar, and the second tanker was left immobilised after the impact. Each was reportedly carrying around two million barrels of crude oil. The same statement blamed deception by US intelligence for the vessels entering the minefield. In a separate statement, the IRGC Navy claimed to have stopped four vessels attempting to cross the Strait. However, none of these reports has been independently confirmed, and no vessel names have been released.
The accounts given by Tehran and Washington had already clashed in September, when Centcom identified the Panamanian-flagged tanker El Gaia as a vessel the Revolutionary Guards claimed had struck a mine. According to the US command, the tanker had instead been damaged by an Iranian missile the previous month and by an Iranian drone over the weekend. Reports of tankers striking mines have continued since the beginning of October. On 10 October, the Revolutionary Guards reported a supertanker on fire, followed the next day by a shuttle tanker carrying 750,000 barrels of crude oil. On that occasion, they also warned that any vessel operating with its navigation and identification systems switched off would be treated as hostile.
The two sides also offer conflicting accounts of shipping conditions in the Strait. Iran considers the waterway closed to vessels without its authorisation and threatens severe measures against ships operating with their identification systems disabled. However, on 16 October, US Admiral Brad Cooper stated that around 400 merchant vessels had passed through the Strait over the previous seven days. The weekly report published on 16 October by the British maritime security agency UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) recorded twelve attacks during the preceding week: ten in the Strait, one in the Persian Gulf and one in the Gulf of Oman. On the same day, according to UKMTO notices, a tanker was struck by a rocket fired from a small boat 78 nautical miles north-east of Al Jubayl, with no casualties among the crew. Earlier, another tanker had been hit by a projectile of unknown origin 68 nautical miles from the same location, prompting the evacuation of its crew.
Tehran presents the escalation of its operations as a response to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and the sanctions imposed on the country. On 17 October, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi renewed, at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Baghdad, a proposal conveyed to Washington through Qatar: the restoration of shipping through the Strait within seven days. The reported conditions are the lifting of the US blockade of Iranian ports and an easing of restrictions on Tehran's oil exports.
Antonio Illariuzzi
