Shafaq News- Tehran

A very large crude carrier (VLCC) was targeted while exiting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Saturday, although the vessel's identity and the circumstances of the reported incident remain unclear.

Fars said an explosion left a dark mark on the rear section of the tanker, behind its superstructure.

On October 23, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said two supertankers carrying a combined total of more than 4.5 million barrels of crude oil struck naval mines while attempting to use an “unauthorized” route south of the strait. The Guards said the explosions disabled the tankers’ engines, forcing the vessels to stop before their crews abandoned them. It is unclear whether Saturday’s report concerns one of those tankers.

Iran announced renewed shipping restrictions in the strait in July after US strikes resumed, warning that vessels crossing without authorization or outside designated routes could be targeted. Washington disputed Tehran’s declaration that the waterway was closed.

Washington Institute for Near East Policy researcher Noam Raydan recorded 28 confirmed and reported attacks on commercial shipping in and around the strait in October as of Friday.