The US military has struck three Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf and Gulf of Oman after Iran launched ballistic missiles towards two American warships, escalating the latest confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
US Central Command said two crude carriers had been permanently disabled, while a third, which was unladen, had been destroyed. The attacks took place near Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil-export terminal, near Jask and in the Gulf of Oman.
The strikes followed what the US described as “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” on an American aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. Both vessels evaded the missiles and no US personnel were injured, according to the military.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of Central Command, said the tankers were linked to a network used to fund Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours,” he said. He added that the US would, if necessary, destroy Iran’s “limited and exposed oil fleet”.
Iranian state media confirmed that a tanker had been hit near Kharg Island, but reported no casualties in that incident. Footage broadcast in Iran appeared to show the vessel’s cooling system extinguishing a fire within about an hour.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks as a war crime and warned that Washington and its allies would be responsible for the consequences of what it described as continuing American aggression and economic warfare.
The strikes mark a further escalation in the conflict, with the security of shipping around the Strait of Hormuz increasingly caught up in the military confrontation. The waterway is a crucial route for the international oil trade, and any wider campaign against Iranian tankers risks intensifying pressure on commercial vessels and global energy markets.
