ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Oman’s navy evacuated 25 crew members from a Panama-flagged commercial vessel after it was targeted off the coast of Musandam on Friday, after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said three tankers were set ablaze while attempting to leave the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement, Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said it “carried out an evacuation of 25 crew members from the Panama-flagged commercial vessel,” in coordination with the Omani navy.

“The vessel had been targeted, resulting in a fire on board,” the statement added, noting that the evacuation took place about 106 nautical miles (nearly 196 km) off Oman’s Musandam province.

Earlier on Friday, the IRGC said three oil tankers attempting to exit the Strait of Hormuz through an “unauthorized route” with US support had been set ablaze.

The Iranian force claimed that two of the vessels had turned off their navigation systems “with the support of the American terrorist army” in an attempt to cross through an “unauthorized route.” It added that a third vessel had exploded “due to passing through an unauthorized route."

Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency said the targeted ship was a “massive tanker” carrying more than two million barrels of oil.

Iran has frequently attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz, while also claiming some other tankers struck sea mines laid after failing to heed Iranian-approved navigation routes.

However, the veracity of Tehran's claims to have riddled the Strait with mines is unknown, with US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Brad Cooper on Friday reiterating a long-standing claim that all underwater explosives have been removed by the US military.

Cooper also reasserted that the US has escorted $1.5 billion worth of oil since summer in coordination with Gulf partners, while saying that Iran has not been able to export any oil via the Strait due to the US blockade.

Iran shut the key Strait of Hormuz in late February as a means in its war against the US and Israel, sharply driving up global oil prices. The US has also imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.

It also established the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) in May to regulate transit through the Strait of Hormuz and tighten its chokehold on the vital waterway.

Free navigation in the waterway was one of Washington’s key conditions for the memorandum of understanding (MoU) the warring parties signed in June. The deal collapsed weeks later after CENTCOM said Iran had attacked a Cyprus-flagged ship in the waterway.