IRGC Says Four Tankers Destroyed by Mines in Hormuz and a U.S. Drone Shot Down; Claims Unverified

Since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on Feb. 28, the Strait of Hormuz has been the war's pressure point, and Wednesday's claims from Tehran add to it.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement carried by the state news agency IRNA that four oil tankers were destroyed after striking naval mines while trying to cross a "prohibited southern passage" of the strait. The IRGC said the vessels were still burning. It said two other vessels were stopped or detained for violating shipping restrictions.

The IRGC also said its air defenses shot down a U.S.-made MQ-9 drone over the strait at 4:30 a.m. local time (0100 GMT). It called that the 56th such drone it has brought down.

None of this has been independently verified. The IRGC has not named the tankers or said what happened to their crews.

Earlier claims and a U.S. strike

The tally is not consistent across Iranian statements. The IRGC also said three tankers were destroyed after hitting mines early Tuesday, according to the BBC's account of the statements. Whether the Wednesday figure includes those vessels or adds to them is not clear.

The claims followed U.S. strikes on Qeshm island on Tuesday. U.S. officials said those were a response to the IRGC firing on a U.S. aircraft.

The pattern predates this week. On Oct. 22, Iran said seven vessels, including oil tankers, were hit and caught fire in the northern Persian Gulf and the strait. Iran said three of them struck mines on the night of Oct. 21. The UK Maritime Trade Operations separately reported a tanker struck by an unknown projectile about 11 nautical miles west of Bukha, Oman. It said the fire was put out and all crew were safe.

Two competing claims over the strait

Iran says ships using routes it has not authorized do so at their own risk. It maintains its own transit corridor inside its territorial waters, charging tolls and safety fees administered by the IRGC. Iranian state media has said some vessels switched off tracking and radar systems before the incidents.

Washington and the International Maritime Organization reject that framework. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the only recognized route is the traffic separation scheme adopted in 1968.

"The information that we have is that they still have mines," Dominguez told Fox News Digital. "We cannot guarantee that a vessel that intends to transit that route will not be hit by a mine."

U.S. forces say the United States and its regional partners oversee the waterway, which before the war carried about one-fifth of the world's oil. A U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports has been in effect since July. As of Oct. 17, U.S. Central Command said it had redirected 138 commercial vessels.

Politics on both sides

The strait claims landed as U.S. voters went to the polls in the midterms. Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also parliamentary speaker, said on X that the results showed "Americans said no to war, and we endorse this message."

He added: "If the US govt betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our 'no' comes with a nightmare." He told parliament Tuesday that Iran "will not surrender."

Trump acknowledged Tuesday that the war and higher gas prices were partly to blame for the poor Republican results. He said he does not regret launching it. He told CBS News the conflict would end "when I say it ends." In an interview with the Financial Times before the vote, he said he did not consider the U.S. "really in a war."

Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments that another attack on Iran would come this week, Trump said the U.S. was "locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no need for it." On Fox News Tuesday night he said some people would "love" a "heavy hit" on Iran. "The only thing I can tell you with certainty, they will never have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Diplomacy still stalled

A ceasefire was reached in April. The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on freedom of navigation in Hormuz on June 18, but implementation stalled over security arrangements. Talks to end the conflict have gone months without a breakthrough.

Qatar is still mediating. Iran said Monday it was exchanging messages with Washington through intermediaries and that reopening the strait depends on the U.S. ending its blockade. The U.S. has said any agreement must address Iran's nuclear program from the outset.

It is unclear whether Trump orders the strikes his aides have reportedly prepared, or whether the Qatar channel produces anything before the next incident at sea. Trump's own words on Tuesday left both paths open.