Iran's Revolutionary Guards say an oil tanker exploded in the Strait of Hormuz after striking a sea mine, according to T-Online. The German outlet reported the claim on Monday, September 14, 2026. The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway through which a large share of the world's seaborne oil passes.
The accounts of what happened diverge. SZ.de reported that Iran said the tanker caught fire in the strait because of a mine, and that the United States contradicted that version of events. T-Online attributed the mine explanation to the Revolutionary Guards. No independent confirmation of the cause was available in the reporting summarized here.
The incident lands amid a wider power struggle inside Iran. n-tv.de reported on hardliners said to be working against their own leadership, and FOCUS online reported that Iranian hardliners undermined a peace deal with Trump through an attack, describing an internal fight within the regime. Separately, SRF reported a dispute at an IAEA conference after Iran's nuclear chief was denied a visa.
What to watch next: whether the United States and Iran harden their competing accounts of the explosion, and how the incident affects shipping through the strait.
