What Iran's state broadcaster reported
Iranian state television carried a report on Thursday, October 22, 2026, saying that seven oil tankers had either been attacked or had run into naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz during the night. According to that account, the vessels caught fire and suffered damage. If the figure holds up, it would mark the highest number of ships harmed in the waterway in a single day since the Iran war began on February 28, when the United States carried out joint strikes against Iran.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7][S8]
The report attributed its information to a statement from the Revolutionary Guard's navy. Four of the tankers were moving oil at the moment they were hit and subsequently burned, while the remaining three were damaged and left unable to move after striking mines. The broadcast did not say whether anyone was hurt or killed, and it did not identify the countries under whose flags the vessels were sailing.[S1]
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A warning aimed at Washington
The same Revolutionary Guard statement cautioned that any American effort to let oil tankers use what it called illegal passages through the strait could lead the Guard to broaden its response to include U.S. bases in the region. Since the war started, the Guard has repeatedly struck at American bases located in Gulf countries.[S1]
