Oman rescues 25 from burning ship, Iran halts tankers

MUSCAT: Oman said Friday it had rescued 25 sailors from a merchant ship set ablaze in an attack, as Iran reported three oil tankers were halted while crossing the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has restricted maritime traffic through the strait since the Middle East war erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.

The narrow waterway, which normally carries about a fifth of global oil, has become a focal point of the conflict, with ships regularly coming under Iranian fire.

Muscat's navy "carried out an evacuation operation for 25 crew members of the merchant ship RITI, flying the Panamanian flag, after it was targeted, which led to a fire breaking out on board," Oman's Maritime Security Centre said in a statement.

The crew members were provided with medical care, the Omani statement said, without giving details.

The Marine Traffic ship-tracking website described the RITI as a crude oil tanker.

US Central Command chief Brad Cooper said in a video released on Friday that US forces had "successfully cleared the strait's internationally recognised primary transit routes of Iranian sea mines."

US forces remain "present to ensure that all primary transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz remain free and clear," he added.

Cooper said he visited some of the more than 50,000 US service members in the region, repeating earlier statements that Washington has helped Gulf countries export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude via the strait since summer.

British maritime security agency UKMTO said that a ship 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) south of Lavan island in Iran was struck on Friday by an unknown projectile, which caused a fire onboard.

"The crew of the vessel have been reported as safe and there is no reported environmental impact at this time," the UKMTO said on X.

BLOCKADE

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said earlier that three oil tankers had been halted after encountering unspecified "incidents" or hitting mines.

"Two offending oil tankers, one in the eastern part and the other in the western part of the Strait of Hormuz, which were attempting to pass through the unauthorised route, encountered incidents and were brought to a halt in the waters south of the strait," the IRGC said in a statement.

Iran has demanded that vessels use a designated route through the strait and coordinate their passage with the country's armed forces, labelling a southern corridor closer to Oman's shores as unauthorised.

The tankers had "switched off all their navigation and positioning systems and, with the support of the terrorist US military, were attempting to exit through the unauthorised route", the Guards' statement said.

The Guards did not specify the nature of the "incidents" the tankers encountered, which came a day after Iran's armed forces said at least four tankers had stopped in the area after hitting mines.

They said Friday's incidents occurred after the vessels received several radio warnings but disregarded them.

The IRGC said in a later statement that a supertanker carrying two million barrels of oil had stopped following an explosion "after striking a naval mine while navigating an unauthorised route through the Strait of Hormuz."

"This is the third oil tanker to have exploded and caught fire today as a result of attempting to pass through an unauthorised route," it added.

The United States has responded to Iran's blockade of the strait with a counterblockade of Iranian ports, further restricting Teheran's ability to export oil and conduct trade.