Three oil tankers caught fire and exploded while allegedly navigating unauthorized routes within the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media reports published on Friday. Citing the nation’s Revolutionary Guards Navy, the accounts stated that one of the vessels was carrying two million barrels of crude oil when it struck a mine. These assertions regarding the tankers and the alleged mining incident could not be immediately verified.
In addition to the maritime incidents, state media reported that Iranian forces downed and captured an American MQM-170 drone in the airspace above Qeshm island, located near the vital strait. U.S. military authorities did not issue an immediate response to that claim, and verification of the downed aircraft remains pending.
Furthermore, Tehran asserted that its forces destroyed an unmanned U.S. vessel in the eastern portion of the Strait of Hormuz. That claim drew a direct refutation from the United States Central Command, which stated on the social media platform X that all American military unmanned surface vessels operating in the Middle East are fully accounted for. CENTCOM specifically noted that its advanced sea drone squadron on patrol in the region remains complete and unaffected.
