Mines Hit 5 Tankers in Strait of Hormuz as Iran Threatens Legal Action
Iran says naval mines struck multiple tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran threatens legal action against Sinokor vessels and an oil spill spreads along UAE beaches.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard navy announced that two "unauthorised" supertankers struck naval mines near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, following an earlier report from the United Kingdom that an unknown projectile hit a ship passing through the strategic waterway [270345]. The announcement came after Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Tuesday that naval mines stopped three tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz [267546].
An oil tanker that Iran described as "violating" regulations caught fire after striking mines in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian authorities said [272210]. Officials did not immediately provide further details on the tanker's identity, the extent of the fire, or casualties [272210]. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow passage through which a large share of the world's oil shipments travels, making any incident there closely watched by global markets and governments [272210].
Separately, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority announced it will pursue "legal action" against tankers owned by Sinokor, the world's largest oil tanker company [272103]. According to the authority, Sinokor vessels have transported millions of barrels of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks [272103]. The statement did not specify what the legal action would involve or when it might begin [272103].
Satellite images show oil spreading for miles along the coastline, threatening local marine wildlife, following a strike on a tanker off the UAE coast [269463][270608].
In a related development, Saudi Arabia has extinguished a fire near its largest oil export terminal at Ras Tanura on the Persian Gulf [272107]. The fire followed an attack in the region, according to a person with knowledge of the matter [272107].
Oil prices fell in early Asian trading on Monday as traders weighed diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions between the United States and Iran [272026]. The decline reflects growing hopes that renewed negotiations could lower the risk of conflict in the Middle East, a region that produces much of the world's oil [272026].