Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Saturday that two oil tankers had caught fire after striking mines while attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz via “unauthorised” routes.

“Two oil tankers that had switched off their tracking systems and were secretly attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz via an unauthorised route exploded and caught fire after striking a mine during the night,” the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Telegram.

Iran’s armed forces have issued an increasing number of announcements in recent weeks concerning fires or explosions aboard vessels that have struck mines in the strait, while Washington maintains that it has cleared mines from much of the strategic waterway.

Iran insists that it controls the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s internationally traded hydrocarbons passed before the outbreak of war in the Middle East on 28 February, following US-Israeli air strikes against the Islamic Republic.

Since then, Iran has frequently targeted vessels attempting to pass through the strait without its authorisation, while the United States has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.