[Reuters]
[Reuters]

An oil tanker exploded after striking a mine in the Strait of Hormuz, the latest incident in the continuing armed conflict between the United States and Iran as a de facto end-of-war MOU between the two sides has collapsed.

Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported Sunday (local time) that an oil tanker struck a mine and exploded in the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel had strayed from Iran's designated route when it hit the mine, the agency said. Iranian authorities had repeatedly warned that any vessel deviating from the announced route would bear full responsibility for all consequences.

Tensions in the strait flared in late February when the US and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, citing the need to halt its nuclear program. A ceasefire MOU appeared to take hold briefly, but the agreement has since broken down. CENTCOM this month resumed precision strikes targeting Iran's anti-ship missiles, drone bases and coastal radar installations, while the Trump administration reimposed a blockade on maritime traffic to and from Iranian ports and coastlines. In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) laid mines in the southern Strait of Hormuz and declared it would cut off oil exports through the waterway until US airstrikes cease.

Two tankers had already been struck by mines and caught fire while passing through the mined zone on July 17 and 18. Iran claimed US intelligence agencies had lured the vessels into the minefield, a charge CENTCOM denied, setting off a war of words. With instability growing in the strait — through which roughly 30 percent of the world's seaborne crude oil passes — international oil prices have surged repeatedly.


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