Tanker ‘explodes after colliding with mine in Strait of Hormuz’

An oil tanker has exploded in the Strait of Hormuz today after colliding with a naval mine. 

The vessel was struck after leaving the route designated by Iran in the strategic waterway, according to the Middle Eastern country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

There was no immediate official statement from Iranian authorities regarding the incident.

It comes as Donald Trump abruptly called off his two-week-old bombing campaign to allow more time for ‘diplomacy’. 

The US President paused strikes on the Islamic Republic amid concerns missile stocks were running low. 

Iran will halt its own attacks as long as the United States maintains its latest pause on air strikes, a senior Iranian official said today.

The Pentagon abruptly suspended the campaign late on Friday, with no US attacks reported on either Saturday or Sunday.

Iran, which had been following each night of US attacks with its own strikes on neighbouring countries that host US bases, has also so far held fire for two days.

Vessels are pictured here on the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on July 26, 2026

Donald Trump attends the re-scheduled White House Correspondents Dinner in the Presidential Ballroom in Washington DC — July 24, 2026

The US ambᴀssador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, told Fox News on Sunday that Trump had decided to pause US attacks to allow more time for diplomacy.

‘He’s giving talks some space, he’s giving it a little bit of room,’ Waltz said, without providing further details.

The senior Iranian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters: ‘Iran’s position remains “attack for attack”: if the attacks stop, Iran will also halt its operations. That message has already been conveyed to the United States.’

The source added: ‘However, Iran is prepared to mount a broad response should the US launch another attack.’

Asked about the pause, a senior official in ​Trump’s administration said on Saturday that the president ‘has always been clear that his preference is diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they fail to come ​to the table in a serious way.’

The senior Iranian source said Tehran did not hold much hope that Trump’s decision to pause strikes represented a major shift in the US negotiating position.

‘There is more scepticism than optimism about the halt in attacks. The prevailing view is that the pause is tactical rather than genuine. Iran has accumulated enough bitter experience with what it sees as US deception,’ the source said.

US forces had been striking Iran nightly in what Washington said was retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says it aims to retain control of the strait, the world’s most important energy shipping route.

The two-week-long US military campaign effectively torpedoed last month’s interim agreement aimed at ending the war that the United States and Israel launched in February.

The New York Times and CNN both reported that Trump had backed off plans to escalate the war with even bigger military options after concerns were raised on Friday by some of his advisers, including over whether US missile defence stocks were running low from protecting US bases in the region.

CNN and the Times both identified Pentagon Chief of Staff Dan Caine as having raised such concerns. CNN said Vice President JD Vance also had expressed reservations.

Zolfaghar and Qadr missiles alongside a metal model of a mini submarine are displayed at Azadi Square in Tehran, Iran — July 24, 2026

News site Axios reported that Trump had been receiving plans for strikes on Iran from the Pentagon every afternoon for two weeks and signing off on them each night, until Friday when the latest plan was presented to him and he decided not to go ahead.

Trump’s decision to pause strikes has come at a turning point in the war, with both sides testing the boundaries of escalation that they set before a ceasefire ended major fighting in April and the interim agreement reopened Hormuz in June.

US forces have already struck bridges and tunnels in southern Iran, prompting Iran to strike water desalination plants that nearby Gulf Arab states rely on to make their desert cities habitable.

Over the past week, Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen have announced a blockade on Saudi oil in the Red Sea, potentially shutting a second major chokepoint for energy shipping. That pushed the benchmark Brent crude price above $100 for the first time since May. On Saturday, the Houthis fired on Saudi Red Sea oil targets for the first time in years.