Iran claims to stop three oil tankers transiting Strait of Hormuz

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday claimed they had prevented three oil tankers from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, amid an ongoing struggle with the United States over control of the strategically vital waterway.

In recent weeks, Iran has targeted tankers using a route along the Omani coast to cross the strait, in what it says is an effort to force vessels to use Iranian waters and pay for safe passage.

"Three oil tankers, provoked and tempted by the child-killing American army, were trying to pass through the mine-laid route south of the Strait of Hormuz, but after one of them exploded and caught fire, the other two quickly turned around and turned back," the Guards said in a statement carried by Iranian state media.

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The statement did not specify when the alleged incident took place.

"The powerful IRGC Navy emphasises that the Strait of Hormuz is under our control... and any ship that is deceived by the US and intends to pass without coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran will suffer the same fate," the statement added.

At the same time, two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to China and India reversed course in the Red Sea on Tuesday after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels threatened to target ships transporting Saudi oil, raising fresh concerns over the security of one of the world’s busiest energy corridors.

The vessels had loaded crude at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu before turning back towards the Suez Canal instead of continuing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into the Indian Ocean, signalling the immediate impact of the Houthi announcement on commercial shipping.

The disruption comes as fighting between the United States and Iran continues to intensify. The US military said late Tuesday it had carried out strikes across Iran for the 12th consecutive night.