IRGC Says Second Supertanker Hits Mine In Hormuz As Turkish FM Calls For Free Navigation
Iran's Revolutionary Guards say the tanker disabled its tracking equipment at the US military's instigation before hitting the mine and coming to a stop, as Türkiye's foreign minister, visiting Baghdad, calls for freedom of navigation and protection of international trade
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced on Saturday that a second supertanker exploded after hitting a mine while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz through what the IRGC described as an unauthorized route, as Türkiye's Foreign Minister, visiting Baghdad, simultaneously called for freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the necessity of protecting international trade.
"The second giant tanker today exploded after hitting a mine while transiting the unauthorized route in Hormuz," the IRGC said in its statement. "The tanker disabled its tracking equipment at the instigation of the American military and stopped as a result of the explosion."
The IRGC's claim that the tanker disabled its Automatic Identification System transponder at American military instruction before attempting the transit is significant. The AIS system is the standard maritime tracking tool that allows vessels to be identified, located, and monitored in real time. Disabling it while transiting a contested waterway is consistent with the operational security measures that CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper acknowledged last week, when he confirmed that US forces have been adapting their operational procedures to make it harder for Iran to locate and target vessels using Chinese commercial satellite imagery.
The incident is the second supertanker mine strike reported in the Strait of Hormuz, a pattern that underlines the continuing danger to commercial shipping despite CENTCOM's assertion last week that more than 400 commercial ships transited the strait safely in a single week and that over 1.3 billion barrels of oil have moved through the waterway under US military escort since the conflict began. The IRGC has previously warned that any vessel attempting to transit the strait without Iranian approval will be hit, either by Iranian forces directly or by the mines Iran has deployed in the waterway.
Türkiye Calls For Free Navigation
Türkiye's Foreign Minister made the call for Hormuz freedom of navigation during a visit to Baghdad on Saturday, emphasizing the importance of protecting international trade. Türkiye, as a major energy importer and NATO member whose economy depends heavily on stable energy supplies, has a direct economic interest in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to uninhibited commercial traffic. The visit to Baghdad also reflects Ankara's sustained diplomatic engagement with the Iraqi federal government, which has been managing the dual pressure of US demands for militia disarmament and Iranian influence across its territory since the coalition departed on September 30.
The simultaneous occurrence of a supertanker mine strike and a NATO member foreign minister's call for free navigation in the same strait on the same Saturday illustrates the gap between the diplomatic aspiration for normal commercial shipping and the operational reality on the water, where the mines Iran laid and the unauthorized route designation Tehran maintains, create a persistent danger for vessels attempting to transit without Iranian approval.