Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday that three vessels, including two supertankers, caught fire in two separate incidents the previous night while crossing the Strait of Hormuz through an “illegal and unauthorised” route south of the waterway.

IRGC said that in one of the incidents, an oil tanker caught fire after hitting naval mines as it was passing through the “illegal” route. In the other incident, another oil tanker, which was leaving the strait through the same route, was stopped after catching fire east of the waterway. A tugboat that approached the tanker to help also caught fire.