Mines Hit Tankers in Strait of Hormuz as US Weighs Iran Strikes

Iran's navy and Revolutionary Guards said fires broke out on a total of three oil tankers that struck mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the latest disruption to the world's most important oil chokepoint amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

The Guards said two oil tankers that had switched off their radar and positioning systems and were "secretly attempting to transit" the strait through an unauthorised route "exploded and caught fire after striking a naval mine," according to a statement carried by Iranian state broadcaster and reported by Middle East Eye.

A separate statement from Iran's conventional navy said another tanker navigating a prohibited zone east of the strait with its tracking systems off caught fire and was forced to stop. The Guards said one of the vessels was a supertanker, and released footage of a large plume of smoke from a ship it said was a liquefied gas carrier that hit a mine.

Washington signals restraint

On the diplomatic front, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the economic sanctions and naval blockade were working well enough that President Donald Trump does not need to conduct major combat operations against Iran.

"The economic pain that is being inflicted on Iran right now is extraordinary, and it compounds," Rubio told reporters in Paris after G7 talks, per Reuters via US News. Trump said on Nov. 10 he plans to hold off on military strikes after appeals from regional countries, including Qatar's prime minister.

A daily world digest said Trump had reportedly told advisers he may hold off on new attacks unless Tehran provokes the United States, and that US Central Command downed two Iranian drones without casualties or damage.

UN warns of hunger risk

The disruption has raised fears for global food supplies. A senior United Nations official, Under-Secretary-General Jorge Moreira da Silva, warned that parts of Asia and Africa could face a food security crisis unless Iran and the United States agree on a UN-backed plan to move fertiliser through the strait, Al Jazeera reported.

Before the war, roughly a third of global urea shipments and nearly half of seaborne sulphur passed through the waterway. Moreira da Silva said a UN-staffed coordination centre in Oman could be activated within seven to 10 days if both countries agree, and that passage of only five vessels a day could keep fertiliser flowing.