The UAE National Guard said on Sunday that its coast guard had rescued 22 crew members after a fire broke out on a cargo ship in the Sea of Oman.

According to the guard, the ship's crew reported the blaze and specialist teams found the vessel, reached it and took everyone off. The sailors, all of them Arab nationals, were given first aid and handed to the relevant authorities. All 22 were said to be in a stable condition. The cause of the fire was not made clear.

The rescue came as Iran reported a tense day on and around the Strait of Hormuz. The navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two oil tankers had struck mines on Saturday after passing through an unsafe stretch of the strait with their navigation systems switched off. Iranian state television said the ships suffered severe damage and came to a halt.

Iran's official news agency also reported the sound of two explosions on Qeshm Island, which sits in the strait, and several more blasts in the coastal cities of Jask, Sirik and Bandar Abbas. A day earlier President Donald Trump said United States forces had carried out new strikes on Qeshm, describing them as minor, while also saying Tehran still wanted a deal. Talks mediated by Qatar are continuing.

In a separate enforcement action in the Gulf of Oman, United States Central Command said a military aircraft had fired precision munitions at the stern of the Huda, a commercial cargo ship flagged in St Kitts, after the crew were told to leave targeted parts of the vessel. The command said the ship was disabled as part of the naval blockade of Iranian ports. It added that since July its forces had redirected 147 commercial vessels that complied with instructions and disabled five merchant ships that did not.

Washington also said it was stepping up efforts to block land routes used to move weapons and other goods alongside the months long blockade at sea.