❗️️️️️️IRGC announces fires aboard two oil tankers and tugboat in Strait of Hormuz, seizure of two US Lucas drones In a statement issued Thursday morning, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that two oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in separate incidents in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, while its naval forces seized control of two intruding Lucas drones. The IRGC Navy reaffirmed that it maintains full control over the strategic waterway. According to the statement, a large oil tanker attempting to transit an unauthorized southern passage through the strait struck a mine, caught fire, and was brought to a halt. In a separate incident, a second supertanker leaving the same route east of the strait was immobilized by a major fire, which also spread to a tugboat approaching to extinguish the flames. The IRGC further announced that its naval electronic warfare unit successfully took control of two Lucas drones, landed both aircraft intact, and seized them. Addressing the US, the IRGC said Washington continues to encourage vessels to violate navigation restrictions and enter mined passages, thereby imposing enormous insurance costs for damaged ships on US taxpayers and regional allies. The statement said that Washington could have avoided these losses by releasing Iran's frozen funds, which it said amounted to less than half the costs already incurred, while also avoiding a "humiliating electoral defeat." "Attempts to violate the law in the Strait of Hormuz will result in nothing but further financial losses and greater political defeats for the United States," the IRGC warned. The statement also praised the Iranian public for 250 consecutive days of steadfastness, crediting national resilience and public support for the IRGC Navy's continued control of the strait.