Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced on Saturday that two oil tankers exploded and caught fire after entering a minefield south of the Strait of Hormuz, blaming what it described as deceptive American intelligence agencies. The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) immediately dismissed the claim as false. The same IRGC statement, carried by state news agency IRNA, said four other ships were “stopped” while attempting to transit the waterway. Separately, Iranian media reported that naval forces fired on a Thai-flagged commercial vessel trying to pass without permission. The exchange came as US forces struck Iran for a seventh consecutive night, with CENTCOM saying the operations aim to “continue degrading Iranian military capabilities.”

According to the IRGC, the strait is now “extremely dangerous and completely closed” and no oil or gas exports will be permitted until what it terms American aggression ceases. Tehran has instructed vessels to use only northern corridors close to its coastline. Washington, for its part, has reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and has been conducting nightly airstrikes; CENTCOM says the blockade has forced 31 vessels to turn away since April. A senior Iranian military advisor, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, warned that if US strikes persist for another two or three days, Iran will launch “full-scale offensive operations” and “no political border will be safe.” The IRGC aerospace force commander said targeted strikes from across Iran would continue until the US ends operations against Iranian coastal facilities.

The competing claims have coincided with a near-total halt to commercial traffic through the strait, which normally handles about a fifth of global oil consumption. Iranian state media reported that US strikes hit civilian infrastructure including an airport, a railway station and two bridges, while Iran’s energy ministry urged citizens to reduce electricity use after what it described as attacks on power facilities. In Kuwait, the electricity ministry said an Iranian attack damaged a power and water plant, and the military reported several troops wounded by drones. Qatar said it intercepted a missile, and Jordan’s military said it downed three Iranian missiles. The IRGC claimed strikes on US radar systems and military aircraft in Qatar, a US unmanned vessel depot in Bahrain, and two American radars in Oman.

The conflict began on 28 February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, prompting Tehran to effectively close the strait and launch attacks on Israel and US interests across the Gulf. A brief ceasefire collapsed earlier this month. Viewed from European capitals, analysts note that both sides perceive any compromise as capitulation, even as neither has a strategic interest in further escalation. Mediation efforts by China and Pakistan have so far failed to bring the parties back to negotiations. The US has continued nightly airstrikes, while Iran has vowed to continue targeted strikes until US operations against its coastal facilities cease. The situation remains highly volatile with no diplomatic breakthrough in sight.