Super tanker ablaze after striking mine in Strait of Hormuz, IRGC says

BREAKING: A super tanker is ablaze after striking a mine in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's IRGC says, accusing the vessel of switching off its positioning and radar systems to evade detection.

A super tanker is on fire in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran says it hit a mine.

That claim comes from the Revolutionary Guard's navy, which says the vessel struck the mine after switching off its positioning and radar systems to avoid being detected. You can see the kind of traffic we're talking about here, commercial ships anchored off Bandar Abbas in exactly these waters.

Remember where we are. Roughly a fifth of the world's oil moves through this strait, and tensions there have been climbing for weeks, with Washington and Tehran already squaring off over shipping. Now there's a burning tanker and a mine in the water, and only one side telling the story so far. No independent confirmation yet of the ship's name, its flag, or its crew.

Whoever laid that mine, the message is the same. The world's most important oil chokepoint is now a place where tankers burn.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.