Iran says oil tanker explodes after hitting naval mines in Hormuz, US denies

The Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Monday that a super oil tanker exploded and caught fire after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a claim the United States has denied.

According to the IRGC Navy, the oil tanker was seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz via the "forbidden" route in the southern waterway when the incident occurred.

On the same day, the U.S. side rejected this account, saying the tanker caught fire after being hit by a drone attack.

Warnings about the dangers of this route had been issued previously, according to the statement published on the IRGC's official news outlet Sepah News.

In the statement, the IRGC Navy said that the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked and remains under Iran's "smart control".

Following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran restricted passage through the strategic waterway, while U.S. forces imposed a naval blockade targeting vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports.

Ship-tracking data showed that the daily number of vessels transiting through the strait dropped to single digits over the weekend, falling below the recent 10-day average of 14 vessels per day.

Four vessels, including a gas carrier, exited the strait over the weekend, while 10 cargo ships entered the waterway.

However, these figures do not include vessels that passed through the strait with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched off.

The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20 percent of the world's seaborne oil flows and significant shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fertilizers.

Before the U.S.-Israeli strikes, around 125 large commercial vessels could pass through the strait every day, including oil tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers, and container ships.

Iran says oil tanker explodes after hitting naval mines in Hormuz, US denies

Iran says oil tanker explodes after hitting naval mines in Hormuz, US denies

Iran says oil tanker explodes after hitting naval mines in Hormuz, US denies Iran's claim

Iran says oil tanker explodes after hitting naval mines in Hormuz Strait

Global nuclear power capacity could more than triple by 2060, according to a reported released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday.

The IAEA released its report Energy, Electricity and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2060 at the 70th IAEA General Conference in Vienna.

The report states that as countries increasingly consider leveraging nuclear power to meet electricity demand and ensure energy security, global installed nuclear power capacity could more than triple by 2060, with small modular reactors expected to emerge as a significant new source of clean energy.

This marks the sixth consecutive year that the agency has raised its forecast for nuclear power expansion. The report also emphasizes the need to prepare for and offset reactor retirements.

IAEA predicts global nuclear power capacity to triple by 2060