Two Tankers Catch Fire as Iran Offers Hormuz Deal

Two tankers struck sea mines in the southern Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday and caught fire, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed. The IRGC said both vessels had been using a route its navy had not authorized.

No casualties were reported. The fires were ongoing at the time of the reports, and the vessels were not identified.

The attacks came as Iran's foreign minister put forward the most specific reopening proposal since fighting began. Abbas Araghchi, speaking to reporters in Baghdad during an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting, said Tehran's seven-day plan was still on the table: the strait would reopen on day six and talks would resume on day seven, if Washington accepts Iran's conditions. Those conditions include lifting the US blockade on Iranian ports, removing sanctions on Iranian oil exports, and ending hostilities on all regional fronts.

The diplomatic gap is wide. Iran wants the maritime crisis addressed before any other item. The US has insisted from the start that Iran's nuclear programme be on the table from day one. Iran's security chief said talks had stalled the previous week because Washington had not responded to all seven of Tehran's demands. Araghchi accused the US of lacking 'the sincerity needed for an agreement.'

The IRGC's framing of the mine strikes carries its own signal. By saying the tankers had strayed from an authorized route, Iran was implicitly presenting itself as a traffic authority over the waterway rather than simply a belligerent attacking cargo.

The Tuesday strikes continue a relentless pace of attacks on the strait. When Iran formally declared it closed last Thursday, two laden supertankers were already among the ships that had hit mines. Earlier that week, Iran struck six vessels in a single day, a record for the conflict. The Singapore-flagged container ship GFS Pride sank after a strike earlier in the week, its cargo -- including iPhones and luxury goods -- seen floating in the shipping lane.

Araghchi's proposal was first presented to the US in mid-September, after an interim ceasefire collapsed. His restatement of it in Baghdad, alongside fresh mine strikes, reflects where the conflict is: attacks continuing while the framework for stopping them stays unresolved.

Around 20 percent of global seaborne oil moves through the Hormuz chokepoint. Oil prices have remained elevated since the IRGC's formal closure declaration last week.