The latest US strikes have hit Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Iran’s Kharg island.
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The United States military says it has struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy warships.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said a US aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer evaded multiple Iranian attacks on Saturday.
CENTCOM said its attack on Iranian oil carriers came after the IRGC fired ballistic missiles towards the two US warships “patrolling regional waters”. It said no personnel had been injured.
The US strikes hit Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Iran’s Kharg island. The US military said it disabled two Iranian crude oil carriers and destroyed a third, targeting vessels it claims were part of a multibillion-dollar network that finances the IRGC and its “regional proxies”.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost – taking out three of yours,” CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
CENTCOM did not immediately provide further details about whether the strikes on the tankers caused casualties.
In response to the tanker strikes, Iran’s military on Saturday said it attacked several vessels, including ones allegedly linked to the US.
The IRGC claimed it had aimed “several ballistic missiles at a US aircraft carrier and a US Navy destroyer, which were harassing Iranian ships and participating in a naval blockade”.
The two ships were “forced to flee the conflict zone” allegedly after “sustaining damage”, according to the IRGC statement, carried on the Tasnim news agency.
“If the United States continues its hostile and aggressive actions, the US regime should expect a significant response from the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are stronger than ever,” the IRGC said.
It called on other vessels in the Gulf and near the Strait of Hormuz not to be “deceived” by the US military and to “refrain from any suspicious movement aimed at transiting unauthorised waterways”.
The exchange of fire comes a day after US President Donald Trump dismissed the conflict, which has caused in the deaths of 18 US service members, is “small potatoes”.
Both sides have tried to inflict economic and military pain on the other, with negotiations to reach a ceasefire having repeatedly collapsed.
At the start of September, the US and Iran exchanged attacks after nearly a month without direct confrontations. The war recently reached the six-month mark, having started on February 28, after a series of US and Israeli attacks.
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