Iran says gas tanker hit a mine in Hormuz and exploded

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said Friday that a tanker hauling liquefied petroleum gas blew up after striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz. In a statement, the IRGC Navy said the vessel took the waterway's southern route, which it called unauthorized and dangerous, and that it had the backing of American fighter jets at the time.

The force did not hold back in its account. It said the ship failed to learn from the fate of earlier tankers that exploded in the same waters, adding that naval mines do not coordinate with what it called the American army of smugglers and aggressors. The IRGC Navy's public relations office warned other vessels that ignoring its warnings will bring the same fate as the previous ships.

The blast caps a week of escalating strikes. Iran's semi-official Tasnim News reported that the IRGC hit and destroyed an American early-warning radar system on the island of Bahrain, a move it framed as retaliation for an attack on a telecommunications tower in Sirik, in Iran's southern Hormozgan province. Iran's state agency IRNA said Sirik, which overlooks the Strait, was struck by the enemy on Thursday, without naming who was responsible.

The IRGC's public relations office warned that if what it described as violations and aggression repeat, its Aerospace Force stands fully ready to engage without limits. Earlier, the force also issued a warning about regional oil smuggling and maritime rules.

From Washington, President Donald Trump said Thursday that the US no longer needs a deal with Iran and that he told Vice President JD Vance to turn his attention to what he called massive corruption in Democrat-run cities. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said the days for a deal have long passed, adding: We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait.

Iran's National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei doubled down on his own warning that Tehran would strike bases from West Asia to Europe if the US attacks again. Every military base used to threaten Iran would count as a legitimate target for lethal strikes, he said, posting on X: NO SAFE DISTANCE. NO SAFE HAVEN. NO IMMUNITY. He stayed silent on reports that Vance was weighing something, leaving that thread hanging.