Iran’s navy said Saturday that an oil tanker struck a naval mine and caught fire in the eastern Strait of Hormuz, the latest in a string of attacks on shipping that killed a sailor on a Greek-owned tanker this week, even as President Trump said Tehran wants a deal “very badly.”
The navy said the tanker had ignored repeated warnings, entered a restricted area and switched off its navigation systems before it hit the mine, Reuters and China’s CGTN reported.
A sailor killed and more ships on fire
A crew member aboard the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Velos Sapphire was killed Thursday in what its Athens-based owner, Velos Tankers, called a likely strike by an unidentified projectile on the ship’s port quarter, AFP reported. The tanker was sailing empty to Bahrain.
On Friday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two more tankers were on fire after trying to leave the strait by an “unauthorised route.” The Guards said the ships had turned off their identification systems and were moving “with the support of the aggressor and terrorist American military.” Iranian media had reported Thursday that five tankers and a tugboat caught fire after hitting mines.
The British maritime agency UKMTO said a tanker master reported an explosion “at the waterline, port side” off Oman on Thursday, and that the crew was safe.
U.S. Central Command said last month it had helped Gulf countries export 1.5 billion barrels of oil through Hormuz since the summer and had recently said all mines were cleared from the waterway, AFP reported.
IRGC has added another lethal tactic to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is using small speedboats to attach limpet magnetic mines to the hull of vessels within minutes. The mines can then detonate and disable the vessel shortly after the boat pulls away, giving little warning to the vessel and its crew. The first successful attack involving a small speedboat placing limpet mines occurred today near Oman. The Hormuz is crowded with dhows, fishing boats and other small craft. Iran has hundreds of small boats, making it difficult for US forces to counter this tactic. Iran has now added this tactic alongside naval mines, missiles and drones.
— Current Report (@Currentreport1) October 30, 2026
Trump: talks are going well
Trump told reporters Friday the U.S. is “doing very well with Iran,” Fox News reported. “We haven’t lost a soldier in seven months or six months. We have the Hormuz Strait opening, doing more business than they’ve ever done with oil,” he said.
He added, “They want to make a deal very badly,” and said Iran’s inflation had reached 300% and its navy had been destroyed.
Iran sent a nuclear proposal through Qatar on Thursday that includes demands for sanctions relief, war compensation and a smaller U.S. military presence in the region, according to Fox News. Ali Bagheri, a deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran “needs to see the US’s practical actions” before talks advance. Qatar said both sides are still working toward an agreement.
Asked about reported strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, Trump said, “I don’t want to talk about it. We do minor strikes,” describing an Iranian anti-aircraft device that he said U.S. forces knocked out within minutes.
The State Department warned Americans in the Middle East on Friday of an increased threat of attacks by Iran-backed Houthis.
The bottom line
It’s time to finish this. Tehran sends a proposal through Qatar asking for compensation while its navy boasts that tankers were blown up for using the wrong lane. A merchant sailor was killed by an unidentified projectile in the Gulf this week. A government that mines a shipping lane and brags about it is engaged in piracy.
The President is right to keep talking while keeping the blockade and the escorts in place. He says Iran’s navy has been destroyed and its inflation has hit 300%. American strength built that leverage, and it should not be traded away cheaply.
Any deal should require Iran to stop mining an international waterway, hand over its enriched uranium, and receive nothing in “compensation” for a war it provoked. Until Tehran does that, the U.S. Navy should keep the strait open and the pressure on.