Four tankers destroyed by naval mines in Strait of Hormuz, Iran's IRGC says
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says the vessels had hit sea mines while trying to cross a prohibited route.
Four tankers destroyed by naval mines in Strait of Hormuz, Iran's IRGC says
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said "no-one will benefit from this war" if fighting with the US and Israel resumes.
Four oil tankers were destroyed after striking naval sea mines, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday, a day after US officials said the US military had carried out strikes on the country.
The IRGC said two of the vessels were still burning, and two more tankers had been seized, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. It said they were attempting to pass through a banned southern route in the Strait of Hormuz.
The BBC has not independently confirmed the IRGC's claim, which came as US voters punished Republicans in the midterm elections, prompting Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, to say the results showed Americans had rejected war.
He warned Washington not to betray its public.
The IRGC also said three tankers had been destroyed after hitting mines early on Tuesday, and that it had shot down an MQ-9 drone over the Strait.
The earlier US strikes on Qeshm were in response to the IRGC firing on a US aircraft.
"If the US govt betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our 'no' comes with a nightmare."
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday acknowledged that the poor results for Republican congress members were partly due to the war on Iran and the resulting rise in gas prices, but said he did not regret starting it. He told the BBC's partner CBS News that the conflict would end "when I say it ends".
In an interview with the Financial Times before Tuesday's midterm elections, Trump suggested he was satisfied with the state of the conflict, and said he did not regard it as "really in a war".
Asked about comments by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu that there would be another attack on Iran this week, Trump said they were "locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no need for it".
On Tuesday night, Trump told Fox News there were some people who would "love" to carry out a "heavy hit" on Iran.
"The only thing I can tell you with certainty, they will never have a nuclear weapon," Trump said.
Talks to end the conflict, which was triggered by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, have been stalled for months, with little sign of a breakthrough.
Ghalibaf told a parliamentary session on Tuesday that Iran "will not surrender" and that the responsibility for preventing a war rested with the US.
"If Washington makes another strategic mistake, it should know that this time it will face a new battlefield and will be even more desperate than it is today as it searches for a way out," Ghalibaf said.
Meanwhile, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his government had been trying to resolve the crisis "through dialogue".
"No-one will benefit from this war" if fighting is restarted, he said on Tuesday.
Iran, which closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the attack, has said it will only reopen it if the US agrees to demands in its peace plan. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said this week that the seven-step plan had been shortened, and could be carried out in two days if the US agreed.