Super-Tanker Catches Fire in Strait of Hormuz After Striking Sea Mines
TEHRAN : A supertanker caught fire and came to a complete halt in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz after colliding with two maritime sea mines.
Iranian state television said the Iranian tanker was trying to go through the strategic waterway without permission. There was no official information about the ship or the condition of its crew at the moment.
Warning and Response from IRGC / CENTCOM
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned that any other commercial or foreign vessel that breaches the rules of security would have the same fate as the tanker and stated that the Iranians are anxious that vessels pass through the Strait of Hormuz strictly in accordance with security rules.
Meanwhile, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that American military forces have conducted a “small, carefully planned, and accurately targeted military action” against the IRGC units “threatening the strait.”
The IRGC mine-laying forces on Larak Island posed an “immediate and direct threat” to the passage of maritime traffic through the critical chokepoint, CENTCOM said.