Watch: Iran Hits Omani Island That Guides Tankers Through Hormuz's 'Unauthorized' Southern Route

Iran has taken its fight over the Strait of Hormuz onto Omani soil: the Revolutionary Guard's navy struck navigation, radar and radio equipment on Oman's Didamar Island, which helps steer tankers through the strait's southern shipping lane, the corridor Tehran says ships may not use without its permission.Iranian state media said Tuesday that the IRGC destroyed "enemy navigation systems" on the island, and state television claimed the personnel and equipment there were "helping the flow of oil smuggling by the enemy." On Wednesday, three sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed the attack to Reuters, which also confirmed video of smoke rising from the island, though none of the sources could say how much was destroyed.Smoke was seen rising from Oman's Didamar Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday following an attack on navigation systems that Iranian state media attributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy. pic.twitter.com/DvgHOqWoJU— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) November 11, 2026Didamar, also known as Little Quoin Island, sits off the tip of Oman's Musandam Peninsula, right beside the southern corridor. It carries a lighthouse dating to 1914, along with shore radar and radio equipment used to track vessels and coordinate traffic. An unnamed IRGC Navy official told Iran's semi-official Fars news agency that the navigational aids in the south of the strait had been destroyed, and that no vessel Tehran considers unauthorized passed through the route overnight.An Omani Coast Guard official confirmed an explosion on the island but gave no further details. European Sentinel-2 satellite imagery dated Nov. 8 shows scorch marks near the island's radar and radio equipment, two days before Iranian state media announced the strike.Two shipping sources and a maritime security source told Reuters that the attack would likely have limited impact on commercial traffic, because other systems are in place elsewhere.That traffic is how the Gulf has kept its oil moving through the war. With US military help, Gulf oil exports recovered to more than 80% of pre-war levels in September and October, according to Reuters, as supertankers shuttle crude out to ship-to-ship transfer points near Oman's Sohar and the UAE's Fujairah, and Saudi Arabia ships more through its Red Sea port of Yanbu.Tehran has spent the past two weeks trying to choke that flow at sea. The IRGC said on Nov. 8 that three more tankers were ablaze after hitting mines in what it calls the illegal channel, and on Tuesday it claimed three more on the "unauthorized route," as we reported.The island strike follows the US bombing of Iran's Qeshm Island on Nov. 2 and what Trump called "minor" strikes there days later, while the US Navy keeps up its blockade of Iran's ports.Trump said Monday he sees momentum toward ending the war in the Qatar-mediated talks. Tehran's top security official is talking escalation instead: Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Iran could strike US bases in Europe if they are used to launch a new attack on Iran, as we reported.