Evidence

Multiple independent outlets confirm that Iran's IRGC Navy did make this exact claim. Anadolu Agency reported on 12 October 2026 that the IRGC navy said a third 'offending' supertanker had been struck in the Strait of Hormuz within two days and caught fire; this was echoed verbatim by TASS (citing Iranian state television), Middle East Monitor, UA.News, Orinoco Tribune, Biztoc, and the pro-Syrian/Russian outlet SouthFront, all attributing the claim directly to IRGC Navy public statements. The IRGC statement did not identify the tanker, its flag, or its operator, nor specify what struck it — these outlets note this lack of detail explicitly. Separately, UKMTO (UK Maritime Trade Operations) reported a delayed account of an unrelated incident involving an outbound tanker hit by an 'unknown projectile' in the strait around the same period, with crew confirmed safe — this is an independent corroboration of some tanker incident activity in the area, but it does not specifically verify the IRGC's own narrative of a third strike. No fact-checking organization (Reuters Fact Check, AFP Fact Check, Bellingcat, or EUvsDisinfo) appears to have published a dedicated investigation into this specific IRGC claim as of the search.