Iran says three tankers hit mines in Hormuz overnight, as a UN official asks for fertilizer lanes

Iran says three oil tankers struck mines and caught fire in and near the Strait of Hormuz early Saturday. The claims come from Tehran only. CBS News, citing AFP, reports that the ships were not named and that the strikes could not be verified.

What Iran says, and what is not confirmed

According to a Revolutionary Guards statement carried by Iranian state broadcaster, two tankers "that had switched off their radar and positioning systems and were secretly attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorized route" exploded after hitting a naval mine. The Guards said one was a supertanker. Separately, Iran's conventional navy said a third tanker, east of the strait in what it called a "prohibited zone," caught fire and was forced to stop. Reuters carried the navy claim in a headline; we have not read the full report.

No ship names, owners, flags or casualties were given. The US military has said it has cleared the main routes through the waterway of mines, per AFP. Iran has reported fires or explosions on ships in the strait repeatedly in recent weeks, and we have covered earlier claims, including Friday's liquefied-gas tanker report. Treat each as Iran's account until a shipping registry, insurer or government other than Iran confirms it.

CBS also reports Iran's Guards say they shot down a US MQ-1 Predator over Qeshm Island for a second straight day, their 17th claimed. CBS says that count could not be verified.

The fertilizer ask

Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the UN Office for Project Services, told the COP31 climate talks in Antalya that Iran and the US should allow an "immediate, exceptional, limited, and time-bound" solution for fertilizer shipments while they keep negotiating, AFP reports. He asked for about five fertilizer vessels a day. He said a third of the world's fertilizer passed through Hormuz before the conflict and that prices have risen 30% since the blockades, naming Sudan, Kenya, Nepal and Bangladesh among the exposed countries. These are his figures; we have not independently checked them.

For a US farm or farm-supply business, the point is the input cost: fertilizer is a spring planting expense, and a 30% rise in a bill is a 30% rise whoever pays it.

What it means for oil, shipping, airlines, defense and consumers

Markets are closed, so nothing here has been priced. Friday's closes, from Yahoo Finance daily data, are below; percentage changes are our arithmetic.

Oil. CBS put Brent near $72 in late February, before the war; $95.84 is about a third higher. The IEA's November report, quoted by CBS, says Gulf exports excluding Oman reached 18.4 million barrels a day in October, 26% below pre-war levels, and that supply passed demand for the first time since the war began. Fresh mine claims test that recovery on Monday's open. Shipping and insurance. Each unverified incident still feeds war-risk pricing debates, because owners must decide whether to trust the US-escorted lanes or Iran's authorization rule. Airlines. JETS has slipped two sessions as crude rose. Defense. ITA is slightly lower. Consumers. Pump prices follow crude with a lag; gasoline just fell below $4, and a Monday jump in crude would test that.

More: today's War Room brief, crude oil chart, War Room.

Sources: CBS News live updates (AFP, AP), Reuters headline, Yahoo Finance. Claims are attributed to the parties that made them. This is market information, not investment advice.