US rejects IRGC claim that Panama-flagged tanker hit naval mine

The Panama-flagged vessel was also struck on Sunday (Representative image: AP).

The US military on Monday rejected a claim by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that an oil tanker collided with a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz.According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, the Panama-flagged vessel was attacked by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) last month and came under attack again over the weekend."IRGC claims a Panama-flagged oil tanker recently struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz. This is FALSE," CENTCOM wrote on X."The Panama-flagged oil tanker El Gaia was struck by an Iranian missile last month and rendered inoperable. This weekend, Iran struck the tanker again with a drone while the ship was in waters off the coast of Oman. The tanker is currently being towed by a regional partner," it added.

CENTCOM further described the IRGC's "false claim" as "yet another example of their lies and intimidation attempts while they try to impede commercial vessels in the strait" — a reference to Iran's virtual blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime corridor.

Tehran put the waterway under blockade in March in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 that triggered the ongoing Middle East war.Earlier, Iran's state-run Fars news agency reported, citing the IRGC, that an oil tanker struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, after which it exploded and caught fire. Fars identified the vessel as El Gaia, a ship flying under the Panamanian flag.El Gaia is the same ship that came under attack off the coast of Oman on Sunday. Thirteen of its 14 Indian crew were rescued while search and rescue operations continued for the missing Indian national.