The US army has destroyed 5 Iranian crude oil tankers following assaults on a US warship by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, US Central Command mentioned in a social media submit on Tuesday.
The US strikes had been in response to 2 Iranian efforts to hit the warship with ballistic missiles over the previous two days, the assertion added.
Iranian state tv additionally reported the strikes, saying US forces attacked not less than three Iranian oil tankers close to the southern port of Jask and close to Kharg Island within the Persian Gulf. It mentioned the crews had been evacuated.
CENTCOM forces destroyed 5 Iranian crude oil carriers, Sept. 8, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) focused a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the previous two days. The U.S. warship efficiently evaded the tried Iranian assaults and… pic.twitter.com/Gi8a2tloN1
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) September 8, 2026
The most recent tit-for-tat strikes come as Washington and Tehran lurch again towards preventing throughout greater than six months of battle.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned the US won’t enable Iran’s assaults to go unanswered.
“Iran continues to attempt to hit US naval ships. And for each time they try this or strive to do this, they are going to lose tankers. And I feel you will see that once more right this moment,” Rubio advised reporters Tuesday when requested in regards to the newest assaults in Iran whereas on a visit to Colombia.
Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran knowledgeable at Israel’s Institute for Nationwide Safety Research, warned that such back-and-forth strikes can solely threat extra retaliation and additional impression to the worldwide economic system.
“There is no such thing as a kinetic resolution to the Strait of Hormuz drawback,” he mentioned on social media. “Each try and impose one solely brings Washington and Tehran nearer to an escalation that will develop into more and more tough to manage.”
An Iranian state TV reporter in Jask mentioned an Iranian tanker was struck close to the coast of Yekbeni, whereas one other explosion was heard within the space whose supply and placement weren’t instantly clear.
State TV later reported that the US army attacked a second tanker close to waters off Jask. It mentioned the crews of each vessels had been being evacuated by lifeboat towards the Jask coast.
Individually, state tv reported that one other Iranian tanker was attacked in Kharg Island anchorage space. It mentioned the crew was safely evacuated shortly after the strike.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy on Tuesday warned crews of oil tankers close to ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to instantly depart their vessels, saying the ships may very well be focused in retaliation for US assaults on Iranian tankers. It accused Kuwait and Bahrain of internet hosting US forces and helping within the assaults.
On Saturday, the US army mentioned it had struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships had been focused with ballistic missiles, warning that it could, “if crucial, destroy Iran’s restricted and uncovered oil fleet.” Iran later mentioned it deliberate to announce a brand new “exclusion zone” close to the Strait of Hormuz aimed toward vessels meaning to transit.
The most recent strikes are a part of a twin financial and army method by President Donald Trump as he struggles to carry an finish to a greater than six-month-old battle with Tehran.
The Trump administration on Tuesday additionally imposed sanctions on extra components of Iran’s aviation business, concentrating on greater than two dozen business and personal airways in addition to international cargo service suppliers in its new push to isolate Tehran from its remaining buying and selling companions.
Each the US and Iran are searching for to exert management over the Strait of Hormuz, the place about one-fifth of the world’s oil handed earlier than the battle started. Rising vitality costs are posing political issues for Trump and his Republican Social gathering forward of the November midterm elections. A barrel of worldwide customary Brent crude briefly climbed as excessive as $99.46 on Tuesday.
A US blockade of Iranian ports has squeezed the nation’s economic system by limiting its oil exports, whereas the American army has been serving to a restricted variety of ships transit on a route by way of the Strait of Hormuz off Oman. Tehran desires ships to observe a route that it chooses by way of the strait, which was thought-about a global waterway earlier than the battle.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
