Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said four oil tankers caught fire and exploded while attempting to use what it described as unauthorized routes through the Strait of Hormuz, as Pakistan expressed cautious optimism about its mediation efforts between Tehran and Washington amid escalating maritime attacks and renewed tensions across the region.
An IRGC Navy statement on Friday said one of the tankers, carrying two million barrels of crude oil, had struck a mine. Iranian state media also reported that Iranian forces had downed and captured a US MQM-170 drone over Qeshm Island near the strait and destroyed an unmanned US vessel in the eastern Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) rejected the latter claim, saying all US military unmanned surface vessels operating in the Middle East were accounted for.
Oman separately said its navy had evacuated 25 crew members from the Panama-flagged merchant vessel Riti after it was targeted and caught fire. The sailors received medical attention following the operation. Marine tracking website MarineTraffic identified the Riti as a crude oil tanker.
The reports came as CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper said US forces had cleared the strait’s internationally recognized primary transit routes of Iranian sea mines. The IRGC, meanwhile, said three oil tankers had been halted after encountering unspecified incidents or striking mines.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency also reported that a tanker had been struck by an unidentified projectile while completing an outbound transit of Hormuz. It said authorities were investigating and advised vessels to transit with caution.
Pakistan sees positive signs in mediation
Pakistan’s military said it was cautiously optimistic about efforts to de-escalate the US-Israel war on Iran, following two visits to Tehran this month by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Munir’s repeated visits indicated there were positive signs in the mediation process. Munir travelled to Tehran most recently on Monday, accompanied by Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.
Asked whether Washington had backed the latest visit, Chaudhry declined to provide details of the discussions.
He also said the wording of the joint defense pact signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan on August 7 did not prevent other countries from joining, when asked whether Iran could become a member.
Under the agreement, an attack on any signatory would be treated as an attack on all. Chaudhry said any additional deployment of Pakistani troops to Saudi Arabia would depend on the circumstances and decisions by the two countries’ political leadership.
Trump says Iran wants to talk
US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran were continuing and that Tehran wanted to engage with Washington, while reiterating that the conflict was not a conventional war.
“There are talks. They want to talk. They keep talking. We have time, frankly. It’s a war, but it is not a typical war,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump has alternated between suggesting that further strikes on Iran remain possible and indicating that a diplomatic agreement could be reached.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin was stepping up diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, warning that the war had added more than €100 billion ($112 billion) to Europe’s energy costs over eight months.
Speaking in Seoul, Merz said the conflict could not be resolved militarily and that European businesses and consumers had paid the additional costs through higher energy prices.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also discussed developments in Yemen and maritime navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ gathering in Atlanta.
October emerges as worst month for shipping attacks
At least 35 attacks on shipping in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz were reported in October, making it the most active month for maritime attacks since the conflict began on February 28, according to UKMTO data.
March was the second-worst month, with approximately 30 attacks. UKMTO said it had recorded 88 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began.
Despite a rise in observed vessel movements, shipping traffic through the strait remained approximately 70% below pre-war levels. A total of 277 inbound and outbound transits were recorded in the seven days to October 28, including US-reported facilitated movements.
UKMTO said most vessels broadcasting their automatic identification system signals continued to use the Iranian route, although traffic along the southern route had increased.
The latest assessment also recorded two attacks in the strait during the reporting week, including strikes on a Singapore-flagged tanker and a Liberian-flagged tanker. Since July 6, 59 of 81 reported projectile strikes had targeted the southern route.
Yemen tensions escalate as blasts reported in Aden
Yemen’s internationally recognized government accused the Houthis of launching ballistic missile attacks on Aden airport and the Maashiq presidential palace complex, with residents reporting two explosions late on Friday.
A government military spokesman said the missiles had targeted the airport and presidential complex but did not provide details of casualties or damage. A police official told AFP that two missiles had targeted the presidential palace.
The reports came after the Houthis struck the perimeter of Aden airport on Wednesday. The group, which controls Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, said last week it had targeted a naval base and a military camp.
Saudi-led coalition forces also reported intercepting and destroying Houthi drones over the Mecca and Medina regions, although the Houthis denied launching attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Gaza and West Bank violence continues
Israeli military operations and settler attacks continued across the occupied Palestinian territories, with more than 530 Palestinian families displaced during an Israeli siege of Hebron, according to Al Jazeera.
The lockdown entered its eighth day following an October 23 attack near an Israeli military checkpoint that killed two Israeli soldiers. Israeli forces subsequently demolished the homes of the two Palestinian brothers accused of carrying out the attack.
In Gaza, at least 14 Palestinians, including children, were injured in an Israeli drone strike targeting a phone-charging point in the al-Maslakh area west of Khan Younis, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
An eight-year-old Palestinian boy also died from wounds sustained in Israeli gunfire in the southern Gaza city, Wafa reported.
In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian olive harvesters in several locations, injuring five members of a family in Tel Rumeida near Hebron. Settlers also began constructing a new outpost on Palestinian land between Ni’lin and Qibya, west of Ramallah.
Other diplomatic and political developments
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei criticised Canada for supporting the UAE’s claim to Abu Musa and the Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb islands, questioning Ottawa’s commitment to territorial sovereignty.
In a post on X, Baqaei said the islands had been part of Iran for millennia, before the UAE federation was established in 1971. He criticised Canada’s prime minister for endorsing what he called an unfounded territorial claim.
Separately, Turkey nominated Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe chief Feridun Hadi Sinirlioglu for the post of UN secretary-general. The nomination followed an inconclusive Security Council straw poll, as outgoing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres prepares to complete his second term on December 31.
In Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress, which represents approximately three million workers, voted to refuse to handle weapons and military equipment destined for Israel, calling on Ottawa to end direct and indirect arms transfers to the country.
