2 tankers explode in Strait of Hormuz as Iran blames U.S. mines

Two oil tankers exploded and caught fire while trying to pass through the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC accused the waterway of being seeded with mines planted by U.S. intelligence and said the ships were forced to travel on a route it considered unsafe. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, UKMTO, earlier reported a vessel on fire about eight nautical miles northwest of Kumzar, Oman, but the cause was not verified. The IRGC also said it stopped four other vessels. As the U.S.-Iran conflict escalated, LSEG data showed shipping traffic through Hormuz declining, while global oil prices jumped above US$90 a barrel.