Iran claims to have disabled tankers after they used illegal Hormuz route

Istanbul (ANTARA) - Iran said on Tuesday that two supertankers had been disabled after using a shipping lane it deemed unlawful in the Strait of Hormuz, allegedly at the encouragement of United States military forces.

The navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that US forces had encouraged several vessels to cross a route it described as illegal in the strategic waters.

According to the IRGC, the two tankers switched off their navigation systems and ignored repeated warnings from the Strait of Hormuz Maritime Security Coordinating Centre.

These actions, the IRGC said, endangered other shipping traffic in the area.

The IRGC stated that the two vessels then attempted to traverse a route that had been mined before ultimately being struck and put out of operation.

However, it did not explain what had struck the ships, nor did it directly claim responsibility for the incident.

The IRGC also warned that cooperation with the United States and the use of the mined route could trigger further damage.

It said such actions would also delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and deepen the global energy crisis.

Earlier, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Defence said two UAE-flagged tankers, the Mombasa and the Al Bahiyah, had been targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles.

The two vessels were attacked as they crossed the southern shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz in Omani territorial waters, according to the ministry.

The attack killed one Indian crew member aboard the Mombasa and injured eight others, four of them seriously.

The ministry added that fires had broken out on both tankers but were successfully extinguished.