Iran's Revolutionary Guards say two oil tankers caught fire after striking mines south of Strait of Hormuz
Key Facts
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said two oil tankers struck mines and caught fire south of the Strait of Hormuz, according to an announcement reported by Asharq Al-Awsat on 20 October, without specifying when they were hit. According to the Guards' account, the tankers stopped after striking Iranian mines in the area south of the strait. The announcement comes as Tehran stands by a proposal to reopen the waterway that includes conditions concerning its ports, oil exports and an end to hostilities on regional fronts. Oil flows through Hormuz averaged 20 million barrels per day in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. China, India, Japan and South Korea together accounted for 69% of the crude and condensate flows passing through it that year, according to the agency's estimates.
Against the backdrop of regional supply conditions, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that disrupted crude production in the Middle East averaged about 4.8 million barrels per day during September 2026. That compares with an average of 5.8 million barrels per day in August, according to the agency's Short-Term Energy Outlook. Disrupted production therefore declined in September from the previous month, while the scale of disruption across the region remained in the millions of barrels per day. On shipping, the agency linked higher tanker rates to rising insurance costs in its energy market report. It said the rise in those rates "reflects increased insurance costs," linking the cost of operating oil transport to insurance coverage for tankers.
In an earlier trading session covered by a Reuters report published on Monday, Brent crude futures fell in early Asian trading following U.S. waivers concerning Russia. Futures declined by 1.06 dollars per barrel, or 0.96%, according to prices cited by the agency in its report on that session. The price stood at 108.80 dollars per barrel by 2214 GMT, the trading timestamp given in the report. Reuters attributed the decline to waivers granted by U.S. President Donald Trump from sanctions and tariffs imposed on Russia. The price movement at the time came amid expectations that Russian fuel exports could increase as a result of those waivers, the factor the agency linked to oil's decline in early trading.
On the diplomatic front, Qatar conveyed the Iranian proposal to the United States, according to the Associated Press, acting as an intermediary in delivering the plan to the U.S. side. In coverage published during September, Reuters had quoted Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari describing Doha's contacts with both sides of the conflict. Al-Ansari said: "We are exchanging messages between the two sides," explaining the nature of Qatar's role in the ongoing contacts over the dispute. On Washington's position on the plan, Reuters reported that Trump publicly rejected the proposal on Saturday, according to its coverage of the Iranian initiative. But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the United States had not formally notified mediators of its rejection, distinguishing between the president's public position and messages conveyed through mediation.
The conditions put forward by Tehran include lifting the U.S. blockade on its ports, according to Asharq Al-Awsat's account of the Iranian proposal to reopen the strait. Iran also demands the lifting of U.S. sanctions on its oil exports, among the provisions it links to U.S. acceptance of the plan. The proposal also includes ending hostilities on regional fronts, alongside the demands concerning Iranian ports and oil trade. Meanwhile, Washington's insistence on addressing Iran's nuclear programme from the outset of negotiations is one of the points of disagreement between the two sides, according to the newspaper. These positions place the conditions for maritime traffic and Iranian exports, and the priority of discussing the nuclear issue, among the matters on the negotiating agenda between Tehran and Washington.
The timetable outlined by Araqchi begins when the United States accepts the plan, according to the Iranian foreign minister's remarks reported by the Associated Press. Araqchi said: "The 7-day timetable will begin as soon as the United States accepts this plan," linking the start of implementation to U.S. approval of the proposal. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, acceptance of Iran's conditions could allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen within 6 days of the start of the proposed sequence. Talks would resume the day after the strait reopens, according to the minister's outline of the sequence of steps in the Iranian initiative. The proposal thus makes Washington's acceptance the starting point for the timetable, then places the reopening of the waterway before the resumption of talks, within the conditional schedule announced by Araqchi.