In a statement on Saturday night, the IRGC Navy said the two oil tankers had attempted to pass through the strategic waterway with their navigation and automatic identification systems switched off.

The vessels struck naval mines and suffered powerful explosions, triggering severe fires, the statement added.

Following the incident, two other tankers that had also intended to make a covert passage through the strait complied with warnings issued by the IRGC Navy’s Strait of Hormuz vessel traffic control center and turned back toward the waters of the Persian Gulf, it added.