Strait of Hormuz, Iran-US war: Situation worsens as oil tankers explode, US military says it intercepted Iranian drones, IRGC claims it struck American radar

Iran-US war situation worsened and status of Strait of Hormuz once again got complicated after both sides made shocking statements. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said on Friday that two oil tankers had exploded and caught fire after striking sea mines while attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz without coordination with Iranian authorities, state TV said. The U.S. military said it intercepted two Iranian attack drones headed toward Bahrain, as Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed it struck a U.S. early warning radar system in the kingdom.

This comes as Iranians mourned 350 unidentified soldiers from Iran-Iraq war. More than 38 years after the Iran-Iraq war ended, the remains of hundreds of unidentified soldiers were carried through Iranian cities Friday in one of the largest such funerals in recent years.

In Tehran, thousands joined a procession for the remains of 110 soldiers. Funerals for another 240 were held in other cities. The remains were recently recovered from former battlefields. Trucks carrying flag-draped coffins passed near Tehran University as mourners dressed in black wept.



Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Friday that a liquefied petroleum gas tanker struck a mine, causing an explosion, while trying to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

The Guard said the vessel ignored repeated warnings while transiting the eastern part of the strait. The claim could not be independently verified.

In a related development, the United Nations said October had the highest number of incidents against commercial ships in the contested waters since February, when the Iran war began.

The UN's International Maritime Organization said 25 seafarers died and many others were injured or remain missing following some 134 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East maritime area as of November 11.

Iran vs US

U.S. military said it shot down two Iranian attack drones headed toward Bahrain, denying Iran’s claim that it had struck a U.S. radar system in the kingdom. CENTCOM, the U.S. command center covering the region, said there were no injuries or damage.

Iran's official IRNA news agency cited a Revolutionary Guard statement that said the attack on the radar system followed a U.S. strike on a telecommunications pole in the southern Iranian port of Sirik. It was Iran's first report of targeting a facility in Bahrain since September.