Two Tankers Exploded in Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s IRGC Says

"No oil, gas or fertilizer shipment through the strait will be safe"

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz exploded late on July 19, halting their voyages.

In a statement issued July 20, the IRGC said the vessels violated regulations while entering and leaving what it described as dangerous waterways south of the strait, blaming the moves on “provocation and coercion” by the US military.

The group said intervention by US forces from thousands of kilometers away had no legal justification and vowed a forceful response. It added that no shipment of chemical fertilizer, oil or gas passing through the strait would be safe as long as alleged US misconduct in the region continues.

The IRGC did not directly state what caused the explosions, but it suggested Iran’s military may have been involved. It warned that “invading forces” should be prepared for what it called a punitive operation over the alleged illegal violation.

The Guard Corps had also said a day earlier that two tankers trying to pass secretly through the Strait of Hormuz had suffered an accident and stopped. It was not immediately clear whether those were the same two vessels it later said had exploded.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations said it received a report of a fire aboard a vessel about 15 kilometers off Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, near the center of the Strait of Hormuz.

The crew evacuated safely and were rescued by a tugboat, UKMTO added.

Bloomberg reported that the tanker Cabo Maleas may have been targeted by Iran. The ship transmitted a position signal on July 20 showing it anchored near the Musandam Peninsula. Its previous signal was recorded in the Gulf of Oman on the morning of July 19. That suggests the vessel may have entered the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz with its transponder turned off.

Kim Hee-sun, Hankyung.com reporter, gimme_sun@hankyung.com