The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says three intruding vessels have exploded in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that it has successfully seized two intruding US-made LUCAS drones.

In a statement on Thursday, the public relations office of the IRGC Navy announced that overnight, in two separate incidents, a large oil tanker attempting to pass through the unauthorized southern route of the Strait struck a mine, caught fire and was stopped.

Another supertanker, while attempting to exit the corridor east of the Strait, was forced to stop after being engulfed in a massive fire, it said. A tugboat that approached the supertanker to assist with firefighting also caught fire.

It also noted that forces from the IRGC Navy’s Electronic Warfare Unit gained control of and took command of two intruding LUCAS-type unmanned aerial vehicles, guiding them to a safe landing and capturing them as spoils of war.

Iran restricted transit through the Strait of Hormuz in response to the illegal US-Israeli aggression, which began on February 28 and came to a halt in early April after 40 days.

On June 17, Tehran and Washington signed a Pakistan-brokered Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), whose Article 5 places responsibility for reopening and managing the Strait squarely in Iran’s hands.

However, Washington attempted to undermine Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait and imposed a naval blockade in violation of the war-ending deal, prompting Tehran to declare the strategic waterway closed to all traffic.

The closure of the vital global energy chokepoint has sent fuel prices surging worldwide.

In the US 2026 midterm elections, which was held on Tuesday, voters delivered a scathing rebuke to warmongering Republican President Donald Trump, propelling Democrats into control of both houses of Congress.

Trump said it was “largely true” the military assault against Iran contributed to the Republican shellacking at the polls.

Iran handed Trump ‘political defeat’: Security chief

Major General Mohsen Rezaei says Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been dealt another blow by Iran in the form of their major defeat in the 2026 midterm elections.

The IRGC said in its statement, “The US regime is forcing American taxpayers and its regional allies to bear the enormous insurance costs for damaged vessels by insisting on and encouraging ships to violate regulations and transit through a mine-laid passage” in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Had the US regime exercised even a little foresight, it could have avoided these enormous costs by unfreezing Iran’s blocked funds, which amount to less than half of the expenses incurred so far, rather than continuing to bear the heavy losses and suffer a humiliating electoral defeat.”

Meanwhile, the elite military force warned that attempts to violate the law in the Strait of Hormuz will only result in further financial losses and even greater political setbacks for the United States.