IRGC claims full control of Strait of Hormuz, warns tankers to stay away

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say an explosion set a tanker ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz after it attempted to navigate a southern route off Oman’s coast, with two other vessels turning back following the blast, according to a statement carried by Iranian media and reported by Al Jazeera. The claim has not been independently verified by international shipping authorities or Western governments.

The IRGC alleged the three ships were acting under US orders and intended to pass through what it called a mine-laid route south of the strait — a claim that, if accurate, would represent a significant and dangerous escalation given the density of commercial traffic that normally transits the waterway.

The Guards issued a direct warning framing their position in absolute terms, declaring the Strait of Hormuz under their control and stating it remains completely closed to oil tankers entering or exiting as long as what they called America’s evil deeds in the region continue. The statement warned that any ship deceived by the US into attempting passage without coordinating with Iran would suffer the same fate as the reported tanker explosion.

This claim extends a pattern of near-daily IRGC statements asserting control over shipping in the strait, following earlier claims this week of disabling two tankers using an unsafe southern route and a separate claimed missile strike on a US naval vessel in the northern Arabian Sea. The recurring reference to a “mine-laid route” suggests Iran may be signaling that it has deliberately restricted safe passage to specific corridors it controls, rather than closing the strait to all traffic uniformly — though this distinction, like the underlying claims themselves, remains unconfirmed by independent sources.

The assertion of complete control over Hormuz carries significant weight given the strait’s role carrying a substantial share of global oil and gas shipments daily. If Iran’s claimed blockade is being enforced as described, the practical effect would extend far beyond the immediate US-Iran conflict, disrupting energy supplies to multiple importing nations and pushing global oil prices higher — a dynamic already reflected in reports of US strategic petroleum reserves falling to 45-year lows amid the ongoing tensions.

Given the pattern of frequent, difficult-to-verify IRGC claims throughout this conflict, independent confirmation from shipping trackers, insurers, or third-party naval sources would be needed to establish whether this specific tanker explosion occurred as described, and whether Iran’s claimed operational control over the strait reflects the actual situation on the water or represents primarily a messaging campaign aimed at deterring shipping companies through fear of retaliation regardless of actual enforcement capacity.