Iran said on Thursday that seven vessels, including oil tankers, were hit and caught fire in the northern Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz after being tracked by its forces.
In a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, the Iranian navy said that four ships transferring oil cargoes had been using unauthorized routes despite previous warnings to maritime companies.
Three additional vessels struck mines west of the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday night, leaving them immobilized after catching fire, Iran said.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which provides maritime security information to commercial shipping, separately reported an incident on Wednesday involving a tanker near the Strait of Hormuz. It said local authorities reported that a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile about 11 nautical miles west of Bukha, Oman.
The projectile started a fire that was later extinguished; all crew members were reported safe, and there was no reported environmental impact, the UKMTO said.
The United States and Iran are continuing indirect negotiations aimed at ending months of conflict.
Over the weekend, the Iranian government said it had conveyed a “concrete seven-day plan” to Washington through Qatar and that if Tehran’s conditions were met, the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened within seven days.
U.S. forces reject Iran’s assertion that it controls the Strait of Hormuz, saying the United States and its regional partners oversee the waterway, which, before the war, carried about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. The U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports has remained in effect since July. As of Oct. 17, Central Command said it redirected 138 commercial vessels to ensure strict compliance.
The United States has also said any agreement must address Iran’s nuclear program from the outset.
Speaking to reporters in Washington on Oct. 21, U.S. President Donald Trump said that U.S. military action had prevented Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“We’ve stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” he said.
“It’s one of the best things that we’ve done. It took a lot of courage to do it, because no other president was willing to do it.
“If we didn’t do it, Iran would right now have already used massive nuclear weapons.”
On Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that fuel prices would come down once the Iran war was over, adding that it would happen quickly.
Talks Continue
Iran first presented its proposal in September, two days after Trump confirmed that the United States and Iran had held talks on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
Araghchi said at the time that the conditions under the proposal were nothing more than what was already in the Islamabad memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed by the United States and Iran in June.
The MOU involved reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran halting its nuclear weapons program, and potential future economic relief if Iran adheres to the United States’ demands. However, the deal collapsed the following month, when Trump said Iran was attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier this month, Iran said that it received a U.S. response to its proposal. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Oct. 12 that Tehran was continuing talks with Washington through intermediaries.
However, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei had said earlier that negotiations had stalled because the U.S. response failed to address all seven of Iran’s conditions.
U.S. Central Command has mostly stopped launching strikes against Iran in the strait in recent weeks, as Trump said last week that he won’t attack Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Trump said in an interview with Newsmax last week that he would possibly use the “Mother of All Bombs” in future strikes against Iran.
The president dismissed the idea that U.S. forces could use nuclear weapons against Iran because “we don’t have to,” adding that he also won’t send ground troops to Iran.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Oct. 16 that Iran is not seeking to procure nuclear weapons, according to state-run media outlet Tasnim News, adding that Tehran “will not bow to coercion” in the midst of the simmering conflict.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with Reuters earlier this month that Iran would have to make what he described as a “meaningful” reduction in its uranium enrichment capacity before the United States would consider ending the conflict.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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