Iran says tankers destroyed after hitting mines in Hormuz

Four oil tankers caught fire after hitting mines while attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran said Wednesday, after it warned no one would benefit from a return to war.

It came a day after President Donald Trump said the US had launched strikes on the Islamic republic, following reports of a raid on Qeshm, the largest island in the strait.

“Four non-compliant oil tankers attempting to pass through the prohibited passage south of the Strait of Hormuz were destroyed after striking naval mines and are still burning,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement quoted by state TV.

“Two other non-compliant ships or vessels have also been halted.”

The Guards also said they had shot down a drone over the strait.

Tehran claims control over Hormuz, a vital global energy conduit, and has targeted vessels that attempt to cross without its authorisation since the war erupted.

The conflict, triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, has been at a stalemate for months.

Indirect contact between the United States and Iran via mediators has continued with little sign of any diplomatic breakthrough, and Iran has said it is ready to reopen the strait but only if Washington agrees to a long-standing list of demands.

Tehran’s chief negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the Islamic republic was “ready for battle with its finger on the trigger”, although president Masoud Pezeshkian insisted his government was trying to resolve the crisis “through dialogue”.

“No one will benefit from this war” if fighting resumes, Pezeshkian said on Tuesday.