Tanker catches fire in Strait of Hormuz as IRGC warns waterway is closed

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says another oil tanker has gone up in flames in the Strait of Hormuz after striking a naval mine. The IRGC said Thursday the vessel was sailing through what it called an unsafe stretch of the waterway and had switched off its detection and navigation systems.

The message to shipowners was blunt. The IRGC warned that the strait is not safe and is closed to what it described as illegal vessels trying to transit without coordinating first. No independent confirmation of the mine strike has surfaced, and the claim comes from the IRGC itself.

It's the latest in a run of incidents. Iran's Fars News Agency earlier carried an IRGC account of two separate strikes that left two oil tankers and a trespassing tugboat burning. The IRGC said one large tanker was hit while trying to use the southern passage, and a supertanker caught fire on its way out of the eastern strait. Its electronic warfare unit claimed it took control of and guided two vessels.

Diplomacy is churning in the background. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone Thursday with Omani counterpart Badr Al-Busaidi, according to Oman News Agency, with the two discussing a shift from de-escalation toward what the readout called sustainable understandings on maritime safety, built on practical arrangements and joint technical mechanisms to keep trade and energy moving.

The rhetorical temperature is high too. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocked US Vice President JD Vance's explanation for Republican midterm losses, calling it loser gambler energy and jabbing at President Donald Trump in a post on X.

Further afield, South Korea is stretching its anti-piracy mission toward the Arabian Sea, Yonhap reported, adding a maritime patrol aircraft and an explosive ordnance disposal team. Officials said the expanded Cheonghae unit mission is meant to protect citizens and economic interests, and will stay limited to open waters south of Oman.