IRGC says 11 tankers burned or sank in Strait of Hormuz in nine days

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Command said Monday that 11 oil tankers have caught fire or gone under in the Strait of Hormuz over the past nine days. In a post on X, the IRGC Navy framed the ships as violators, saying some were set ablaze and others sank to the sea floor. The statement counted the window from October 25 — the day it says CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper made what it called a show visit to the strait — through Monday.

The US side has its own tally running. CENTCOM revealed over the weekend that 144 vessels have been redirected in the strait since the American naval blockade of Iranian ports started, a number that dwarfs the IRGC's claim and hints at how much traffic is being squeezed.

Tehran isn't softening its line elsewhere. Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told state broadcaster IRIB during a diplomatic trip to Beijing that Iran will make no compromises on its national security, sovereignty or territorial integrity. He argued that war against a civilization cannot end in victory and warned the approach will rattle the global economy.

Moscow is watching with alarm. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Monday that signs of fresh military action against Iran are deeply worrying, describing the situation as unresolved and tangled up with the region's other crises. Meanwhile, China is sending Middle East envoy Zhai Jun to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia in early to mid-November, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning saying the trip aims to push de-escalation and negotiations.

Iran's nuclear file stayed in the spotlight too. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Monday that Tehran will not surrender its enriched uranium and will keep honoring the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while calling the United States the greatest threat to that treaty and blasting what he described as aggressive rhetoric against Iran's nuclear program.