IRGC says two tankers and tugboat caught fire in Hormuz

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in two separate incidents in the Strait of Hormuz the previous night, including one tanker that it said struck a naval mine. The account has not been independently confirmed in the reports, and no vessel names or casualty details were provided. The IRGC said the first tanker was passing through a southern route it described as unauthorized when it hit a mine and caught fire. In the second incident, another tanker caught fire while leaving the eastern part of the strait, the group said. A tugboat that approached to help contain the blaze also caught fire. The incidents occurred amid restrictions on shipping through the strategic waterway, according to one account. The IRGC’s statements described the route as illegal and alleged that the United States had encouraged vessels to use it. Those descriptions and the alleged mine strike are the IRGC’s account; the reports provide no independent confirmation of the cause of either tanker fire or the tugboat fire. The IRGC also said its naval electronic warfare unit took control of two US-developed LUCAS drones and landed them unharmed. That...