Iran Claims a Third Tanker Hit a Mine in the Strait of Hormuz, While Trump Would Rename It the "Strait of Trump"

Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims that another supertanker, with a capacity of two million barrels of oil, has struck a mine in the Strait of Hormuz. According to its statement, the explosion hit the ship's engine room. It's the third such incident since Saturday, 10 October, the Iranian military says. The names of the three tankers, their flags and owners have not been released - so the claim that all three are owned by American companies, and that they were completely destroyed, also remains unconfirmed.

The Iranian version is clear and menacing. According to Tehran, the latest tanker tried to pass through the strait with its navigation system switched off and on a route it had no Iranian approval for. The Guard warned that ships that switch off their automatic identification systems and avoid the prescribed routes will be treated as hostile. Since July, Tehran has insisted that tankers pass through the strait only with its approval and through specially designated corridors.

On the other side stands the American blockade. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that on 10 October a fighter jet struck the stern of the Panama-flagged merchant ship "Ocean Molika", also known as "Arika Sun", disabling its propulsion system - because the crew ignored warnings and tried to break the naval blockade of Iran. According to US figures, since the blockade was reimposed in July, four merchant ships have been disabled, another 135 forced to change course, and ten tankers linked to the Revolutionary Guard's network destroyed. The Americans also claim they had previously cleared Iranian mines from international shipping lanes.

Britain's maritime traffic monitoring service UKMTO confirmed another incident on Sunday: a tanker hit on its port side by an unidentified projectile. The ship is damaged, the crew is safe, there's no pollution - but UKMTO didn't confirm it was a mine. There is no independent confirmation of the three Iranian mines so far.

Meanwhile, in a speech in Tennessee on 10 October, Donald Trump said Iran may be preparing to step up attacks ahead of the 3 November congressional elections, believing it will hurt the Republicans politically. "They'll probably try something extra before the election, thinking it'll hurt us. But we could finish all of this very quickly," he said. Then he added: "We're thinking of renaming it the Strait of Trump."

Diplomacy, for now, is going nowhere. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the American response to Iran's seven conditions for opening the strait was unsatisfactory. Tehran wants Washington to clearly accept the remaining conditions before it allows shipping to return to normal. One of the world's most important oil routes thus remains hostage to two navies and one American electoral calculation. Who here is actually defending freedom of navigation?