Iran's navy says two more tankers hit naval mines and caught fire at midday in what it calls the unsafe area east of the Strait of Hormuz. Defa Press, an Iranian military news agency, reported the statement. Tasnim, an agency close to the Revolutionary Guard, carried it too and said the fires followed ignoring maritime warnings and entering prohibited areas without coordination.

The statement names no vessels and gives no casualty or cargo details. Separately, the Associated Press reported that UKMTO, the UK maritime authority, said a tanker was hit by projectiles 50 nautical miles north of Madinat ash Shamal, Qatar. UKMTO did not identify the ship or its flag. The Jerusalem Post, as relayed by JFeed, said UKMTO could not yet confirm the crew's condition or the extent of the damage.

Iran has kept up such claims. The Guards said on November 2 that 11 tankers had burned in Hormuz since October 25, and on November 4 that two tankers and a tugboat caught fire. US Central Command says US forces have cleared all internationally recognised primary transit routes of sea mines and that they remain clear. UKMTO reported vessels on fire near Khasab on October 28 and 29, cause unknown. Others have reported fires; the mine explanation so far comes from Iran.

Words from both sides have run ahead of any confirmed change in flows: measured Saudi export volumes and the compressed Gulf crude premium have so far absorbed every earlier mine and fire claim without confirmed disruption.

Arab diplomats told Al-Jadeed that US-Iran talks have progressed and will be clearer on Friday.

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