Middle East conflict: Iran says tanker hits mine in Strait of Hormuz as Pezeshkian criticises US

Why are oil tankers still being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Gulf when diplomatic efforts to end the Iran war are gathering momentum?

Is Tehran using commercial shipping as a bargaining chip, or are the Revolutionary Guards risking a wider confrontation with the United States?

The questions have gained urgency after ADNOC Logistics & Services confirmed that one of its vessels was damaged in an attack in UAE territorial waters in the Arabian Gulf on Tuesday, November 10.

In another incident the same day, four crew members were injured when the Liberia-flagged supertanker MT Fujairah Energy was struck by a projectile while transiting the Arabian Gulf, India’s Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused the United States of pursuing diplomacy through threats, questioning its actions in the conflict with Iran.

In a post on X, Pezeshkian said the US had waged war claiming to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, before using a PrSM missile in Lamerd for the first time.

He also criticised references to the “Mother of All Bombs”, describing the approach as a “disgrace” and questioning who was threatening global peace and security.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Turkey on Wednesday to attend a UN conference on climate, state media reported.

"Pezeshkian arrived in Antalya a few minutes ago to attend the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31)," the official IRNA news agency said.

"On the sidelines of the summit, the president will meet and hold discussions with the leaders and officials of the participating countries," it added.

"During the conference, we will discuss the actions taken by America and Israel to destroy the environment," Pezeshkian said before leaving Tehran.

Iran's army said Wednesday that an oil tanker had struck a mine and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, where the country has been targeting ships that transit without its authorisation.

Since the outbreak of the Middle East war in late February, Tehran has heavily restricted traffic through the strategic waterway, insisting vessels use routes authorised by the Islamic republic.

The United States has in response imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and helped tankers travel the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil.

The American military recently claimed all mines had been cleared from the strait.

"Early this morning, a violating oil tanker caught fire after striking a naval mine in an unsafe, prohibited area in the east of the Strait of Hormuz," the naval forces of Iran's army said in a statement carried by state TV.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has declared Argentina's navy and air force terrorist organisations in response to Buenos Aires blacklisting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to a post by the IRNA news agency on X.

The ministry said the move was based on the principle of reciprocity and held the Argentine government responsible for the consequences of its decision.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian asserted that the United States and Israel are confronting political fallout stemming from military conflicts, as reported by Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency, prior to his departure for an international environmental conference.

Pezeshkian left Tehran for Turkiye on Wednesday to attend the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), describing the summit as an important opportunity to discuss regional issues and the environmental damage caused by aggressors.

Speaking before his departure, the Iranian leader noted that 196 nations are participating in the summit, with 71 delegations headed by presidents or prime ministers, according to information released by Mehr News Agency. He indicated that he would utilise the event to address the ecological devastation inflicted upon Tehran and neighbouring territories by Washington and Tel Aviv.

Pezeshkian stated that bilateral talks with representatives from upwards of 10 countries, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had been scheduled on the sidelines.

Addressing diplomatic ties with Ankara, he characterised bilateral relations as being in an exceptionally positive state, emphasising that shared economic, social, cultural and regional interests serve to reinforce mutual cooperation and stability.

Furthermore, the president maintained that during his scheduled meetings, he would discuss the crimes perpetrated by the United States and Israel throughout the region, arguing that recent electoral verdicts reflect widespread public rejection of warmongering figures. He added that political outcomes observed across Western states and Palestine contradict the stated values of administrations professing a commitment to democratic principles and human rights.

He expressed optimism that the official mission would effectively communicate the aspirations of the Iranian public while generating positive outcomes, as highlighted in dispatches from Mehr News Agency.

A man jailed on terrorism charges in New York was able to pass secret messages to Iranian operatives planning an attack on a British air base used by the U.S. Air Force, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The new indictment offers fresh insight into an episode shrouded in mystery since Sept. 27, when a group of men were detained on suspected explosives and terrorism offenses after three suspicious vans were spotted traveling toward a British air base where U.S. bombers were stationed.

The new charges accuse Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, of a role in plotting to attack the Royal Air Force Base in Fairford, in western England, even though he'd been arrested last spring.

According to prosecutors, al-Saadi used coded language in phone and video calls to his mother and sister in Iraq to pass messages encouraging associates to carry out the air base bombing.

Two other men have been charged in the case, which accuses Iran-backed operatives of plotting nearly 20 terror strikes on Jewish communities in Europe and the US.

Neither of those men, Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national, and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national, are in US custody.

Four crew members were injured after the Liberia-flagged VLCC MT Fujairah Energy was hit by a projectile on 10 November while transiting the Arabian Gulf, India’s Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said in a post on X.

Six Indian seafarers were on board. One of them suffered minor injuries and has been taken ashore for further medical examination, Sonowal said.

The remaining 18 crew members, including the other five Indian seafarers, are safe and accounted for, he said.

Sonowal said the government is monitoring the situation and is in close contact with the ship management company to ensure the seafarers’ security, medical care and wellbeing.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says it has received a report of an incident involving a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

The status of the crew, the extent of any damage and the environmental impact are unknown, UKMTO said in a post on X.

It advised vessels to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity while authorities investigate.

The forces of Yemen's internationally recognised government said Thursday that the Houthis had fired ballistic missiles at the central city of Marib, which sits in a strategic oil-rich region.

"Houthi terrorist militias fired several ballistic missiles at the densely populated city of Marib," the government forces said on X.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has moved out of his home and onto a military base following threats against his life from Iran, The New York Times reports, citing three people familiar with the matter.

US officials have concluded in recent weeks that Iranian plotting against current and former American officials has reached a more advanced stage, the sources said, pointing in part to intelligence about threats to Bessent. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

A Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed the move, saying Bessent will “not be deterred” by the threats.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has unveiled what it describes as a "new" underground “missile city,” displaying ballistic and cruise missiles alongside their launch systems.

The IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency published images of the facility on Tuesday, Nov. 10, during the force’s Aerospace Week.

Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi and IRGC Aerospace Force commander Brig. Gen. Majid Mousavi attended the unveiling.

Tasnim said the site houses “various ballistic and cruise missiles,” as well as launchers, but did not identify its location, disclose the number or types of weapons, or provide independent evidence of the facility’s scale or operational status.

Trump has hit out at Democrats on Truth Social after the House blocked the impeachment of Pete Hegseth, calling the outcome an “exoneration” of the Defence Secretary. He said all Republicans except Thomas Massie backed Hegseth, and accused Democrats of weaponising the system.

The Republican-led US House of Representatives on Tuesday, Nov. 10, effectively killed an effort to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over US military operations in Iran, Yemen, Venezuela and the Caribbean, US media reported.

By a 211–204 vote, the House referred Rep. Thomas Massie’s impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee rather than allowing an immediate floor vote on impeachment. The procedural move ends the effort for the remainder of the 119th Congress.

Massie, a Kentucky Republican and prominent critic of Hegseth and President Donald Trump, was the only Republican to vote against sending the measure to committee. He was joined by House Democrats.

The articles accused Hegseth of abusing his office, including by launching the Iran war without congressional approval, ignoring civilian-casualty safeguards, directing boat strikes in the Caribbean, and overseeing the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The vote was largely along party lines. Republican critics of Hegseth said his conduct did not rise to the constitutional standard of “high crimes and misdemeanours.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rejected Iran’s demand for war reparations, saying Tehran should instead pay compensation because it had “destabilised the region.” He made the remarks after a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in Paris on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

“Iran is demanding reparations. They should be the ones paying reparations because they’re the ones that have destabilised the region for long periods of time,” Rubio told reporters.

“They’re demanding pallets of cash, which the president has made clear is not going to happen.”

Crude prices edged lower again early Wednesday (Nov. 11) after Brent briefly broke below $90 for the first time since August, as traders bet that the US-Iran standoff is easing.

The prices (as of 7:36 am Tokyo time, Nov. 11)

• Brent: $91.98 a barrel, down 59 cents, or 0.64% (22-minute delay)

• WTI: $86.04, down 81 cents, or 0.93% (36-minute delay)

• Murban (Platts): $92.07, down $7.10, or 7.16%, but dated Nov. 10, so it reflects Tuesday’s assessment

• Dubai: $93.59, down 3.72%. Brent weighted average: $94.15, down 4.05%. Both carry a one-day delay.

• Natural gas: $3.296, up 2.42%. Gasoline: $2.625, down 0.97%. Heating oil: $4.131, down 1.99%.

Day 255: ADNOC vessel sustained damage following attack

Day 254: Trump: Military action on Iran ‘doesn’t seem necessary’

Day 253: UAE rescues 22 crew in Gulf of Oman

Day 252: Iran's Revolutionary Guard lifts its missile-range limit

Day 251: Trump warns Iran of ‘heavy hit’ as Tehran steps up Gulf diplomacy

Day 250: Oman and Iran call for end to war and fresh dialogue

Day 249: US VP Vance says Iran war is 'the reason we lost' midterms