U.S. forces struck multiple Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
The strikes hit vessels near Kharg Island and off the port city of Jask, east of the strait, according to U.S. officials and Iranian state media. A U.S. official, speaking anonymously, told Al-Monitor that American forces targeted multiple Iranian tankers connected to the IRGC in response to fresh missile attacks on a U.S. Navy warship. U.S. Central Command had not issued any public statement by the time of initial reports.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency confirmed that a small oil tanker was hit by U.S. forces off Kharg Island. Iranian state television then reported additional strikes near Jask, including one vessel close to the coast of Yekbeni. Crews aboard those tankers were reportedly evacuating by lifeboat. A separate tanker in the Kharg Island anchorage area was also reported struck.
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As originally reported, the strikes came after Iranian forces launched coordinated projectile attacks against U.S. Navy surface vessels on September 7, following an earlier attack on September 6. The Pentagon had not publicly disclosed the September 6 incident at the time the tanker strikes were first reported. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the sequence of attacks on U.S. ships.
Tuesday’s escalation was not an isolated event. Just days earlier, on September 5, U.S. Central Command announced its own round of strikes on three Iranian crude oil tankers. CENTCOM said those strikes came after IRGC ballistic missile attacks on two U.S. Navy warships, including an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. American personnel were not harmed, and both vessels successfully evaded the attacks.
In its September 5 statement, CENTCOM said it permanently disabled two vessels, the M/T Downy off Kharg Island and the M/T Stark 1 near Jask. A third ship, the M/T Kylo, also known as the Noxen, was completely destroyed in the Gulf of Oman after its crew was ordered to abandon ship. CENTCOM struck that vessel in multiple critical locations to render it inoperable. All three ships were described as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network used to fund the IRGC and its regional proxies.
The back-to-back incidents over several days mark a significant and escalating exchange of military action between U.S. and Iranian forces in waters critical to global oil shipping. Neither side showed signs of stepping back as of the time of initial reporting.
