New Delhi: Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Friday (July 17) that two oil tankers caught on fire and exploded while passing through minefields in the southern Strait of Hormuz. The news agency added that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said the strait is “extremely unsafe and completely closed” as a result of “US aggression” and that they have intercepted a US MQ-9 drone over the Iranian port city of Bushehr.The US military’s Central Command, however, in a social media post on X, had refuted IRGC’s claim that two tankers have exploded in Hormuz after hitting mines. “CLAIM: IRGC claims that two oil tankers have exploded in the Strait of Hormuz after hitting mines in the international waterway. FACT: Like most IRGC claims, this is false,” the post read. US and Iran have escalated airstrikes over the past week, expanding further across the Gulf region, as the US-Israel war on Iran has entered its 141st day.According to Al Jazeera, the IRGC navy command said it blocked four tankers attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz with US support. It said the tankers were “stopped in place” in a combined missile and drone operation. The command warned vessel owners to pay heed to its announcements, adding that they ” should not be fooled by the baseless support of the US terrorist army, like the leaders of some countries in the southern Persian Gulf.”Meanwhile, the US military has expanded its attacks to central Iran as it continued its bombardment for a seventh night. At least three people have been killed in US attacks on Iran’s Hormozgan. Locals have been warned to avoid unnecessary travel on roads owing to the possibility of renewed attacks in Hormozgan, reported the Tasnim news agency.Follow updates here. Note that the blog may take a few moments to load.