Iran just mined the Strait of Hormuz and threatened strikes anywhere

Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it just blew up four oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz with sea mines.

And Iran's Supreme Leader has told his military to hit back at America and Israel anywhere in the world if it happens again.

The claim came two days ago from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, published through Iranian state media.

Four tankers, it says. One of them a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil. All hit mines and caught fire in the strait.

The IRGC says the ships were using a southern route it never authorised.

So is that true? Partly.

Oman evacuated 25 crew members from a burning, Panama-flagged oil tanker near the strait. That part checks out.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency tracks shipping in the region. It says a small boat attached two limpet mines to that tanker's hull, about 25 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman. The blast started a fire in the engine room and knocked the ship out of action. The crew were not hurt.

Here's why that detail matters. It's the first limpet-mine attack recorded in the Gulf since at least 2019, according to Windward, a maritime intelligence firm.

A separate vessel was hit by an unknown projectile about 40 nautical miles south of Iran's Lavan Island. UKMTO says that one caught fire too. That crew was safe as well.

So that's two incidents independently confirmed. Iran says there were four.

Reuters says it could not immediately verify the IRGC's statement. And Windward says it's not even clear if Iran's count of four goes beyond the ships it tracked itself.

But here's the bigger shift. The method is new for this war.

Since February, Iran has mostly used a blockade to choke off the strait. A limpet mine is different. Someone fixes it by hand, from a small boat, onto one specific ship. That's a direct, deniable attack. Not a blanket restriction.

And Iran's response plan has just gotten a lot bigger.

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader since March, ordered his military chiefs to answer any future attack with what he called an says quote "immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response".

He also told commanders to update Iran's target list. Every American and Israeli asset, tangible or not, wherever it is.