Three oil tankers caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, 8 November 2026, after what Iran’s Revolutionary Guards described as explosions while the vessels were sailing an unauthorised route through the strategic waterway.
“Since the early hours of this morning, three non-compliant tankers have exploded and caught fire while they were sailing in the illegal channel in the Strait of Hormuz,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement.
The Guards did not name the tankers or give their nationalities. They said the vessels had switched off their navigation and identification systems and were using routes not authorised by Tehran, and said the tankers were burning because of “the aggression of the American invading military”.
The incident comes amid a wider confrontation over the strait. Since the Iran war began in late February, Tehran has severely restricted traffic through the waterway, insisting that vessels use routes it authorises. The United States has responded with a naval blockade on Iranian ports and has helped tankers travel through the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption.
The statement came less than a day after the Guards said two other tankers had struck naval mines and caught fire on Saturday while trying to cross through unauthorised routes — one east of the strait and one within it.
Separately, US Central Command said late on Saturday that its forces had disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman after its crew ignored repeated warnings and tried to breach the naval blockade. A US military aircraft fired precision munitions at the stern of the St Kitts-flagged M/V Huda, disabling the ship, after the crew was directed to abandon the targeted spaces. The vessel had tried to depart regional waters after visiting an Iranian port.
British maritime agency UKMTO also reported on Sunday that a tanker had caught fire in the strait off the coast of Khasab, Oman, a day earlier, and that the crew had been evacuated, and that another tanker had been struck by an “unknown projectile” on Saturday. Emirati state media said 22 people were rescued from a burning vessel in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday and were in stable condition.
AFP, which reported the Guards’ statement, said it was unable to confirm whether the various reports referred to the same incidents.
Iranian state news agency IRNA separately reported late on Saturday that sounds resembling explosions were heard in Qeshm, Sirik, Jask and Bandar Abbas, and officials confirmed an “impact” in the port city of Jask. The cause of the sounds remains unknown.
US Central Command said last month that it had helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil via Hormuz since the summer, and has recently said that all mines have been cleared from the waterway.
Source: Gulf News (AFP) — https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/iran-says-3-tankers-caught-fire-in-hormuz-1.500740005
