Iran says 7 oil tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Seven oil tankers caught fire or were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz overnight after being hit by Iran or striking naval mines, Tehran said Thursday.

Iranian state television reported the claims about the latest attacks on ships, which the AP couldn't independently confirm. The report cited the Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, which again threatened to strike U.S. military bases in the region if the U.S. keeps helping to guide commercial ships through the strait.

The report didn't mention casualties. Iran still asserts control over the waterway, a central point of leverage in any talks with the U.S. over the war.

October has had the most reported attacks on commercial shipping since March in the war's opening weeks, according to a British military monitor, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. UKMTO didn't report the latest attacks, but it has noted new reluctance by some shippers to report incidents.

Oil producers have found ways to keep crude flowing, experts say, but at a mounting cost.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday said that Tehran remains open to diplomacy, but is ready to defend itself.

Iran has warned that it has learned important military lessons from the war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28. In recent days, Tehran has indicated that it could expand targets to include infrastructure such as undersea cables and data centers.

The United States, for its part, is sending more military assets to the region, including a third aircraft carrier and thousands of troops, to join the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.

Mediators, meanwhile, have been trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to formal talks.

Iran still promotes its latest proposal that would end the war and fully open the strait within a week if the U.S. meets several conditions. Those conditions, which include ending the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, echo those in the deal that fell apart within days of both sides signing it in June.

In late September, U.S. President Donald Trump rejected that seven-day proposal, but both sides have acknowledged that indirect discussions have continued.