The IRGC Navy warned violating vessels that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is possible only through prior coordination and compliance with the regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

TEHRAN – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy said Monday that 11 violating oil tankers have caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz over a nine-day period.

In a post on its X account, the IRGC Navy said the incidents were as a direct consequence of a visit by CENTCOM Commander Gen. Brad Cooper to the strategic waterway, warning that any party assisting aggression will not be safe from Iran's response.

The IRGC Navy said the tankers had burned between Oct. 25—the date of a demonstrative visit by Cooper—and Monday, with some vessels sinking to the depths of the sea.

"Any party that assists aggression should not consider itself safe from Iran's response," it said.

The IRGC Navy's announcement followed a separate statement late Sunday saying two violating tankers, including a supertanker, had exploded after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz while transiting an unauthorized route.

The IRGC said both vessels had turned off their navigation and identification systems, and that the supertanker suffered a massive explosion and was engulfed in flames.

The IRGC Navy's public relations office said the vessels were attempting to cross the forbidden southern route with the support of the U.S. military, and that responsibility for the consequences rested entirely with the shipowners.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported separately that a vessel's captain had sent a distress signal saying another ship had been struck by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz.

IRGC spokesperson Brig. Gen. Hussein Mohebbi had earlier repudiated Cooper's visit, sharing an image of the U.S. commander flying over the strait alongside a burning oil tanker and a Brent crude price of $117 per barrel.

Cooper claimed in late October that dozens of commercial vessels were transiting the Strait of Hormuz under U.S. protection, with a squadron of aircraft, warships and maritime drones establishing a "defensive corridor" and conducting patrols.

The IRGC Navy has asserted full operational and intelligence control over the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf since late February, when Iran barred safe passage for vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following joint strikes on Iranian territory.

A knowledgeable official close to the IRGC Navy said in late October that unauthorized vessel traffic in the strait had been "completely halted" after the destruction of navigational aid systems and the targeting of violating tankers.

He warned that any resumption of oil smuggling would be met with far greater force and that renewed U.S. air intervention would face a "more direct and decisive response".

The IRGC has issued repeated warnings to maritime companies deceived by the U.S. military into using unauthorized routes, saying such transit risks mines and other defensive measures.  

U.S. claims that the strait has been reopened or cleared of mines have been repeatedly dismissed by Iranian military officials as baseless propaganda disconnected from realities on the ground.

Despite Washington’s large naval presence, American forces have proven unable to guarantee safe transit outside Iranian-controlled arrangements, with their attempts frequently resulting in failed operations and humiliation.

On Sunday night, the IRGC Navy reaffirmed that the Strait of Hormuz remains under the sovereign control of the Islamic Republic.

Safe and orderly passage is available only to vessels that coordinate in advance and respect Iranian regulations, it said. Any further provocative or unauthorized activity will continue to be met with an immediate and proportionate response.