WASHINGTON- United States forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted an American warship with ballistic missiles, the US Central Command has said.
CENTCOM said the strikes were carried out on September 8 after the IRGC attempted to hit the US Navy vessel twice over two days.
According to the command, the American warship evaded both attacks and continued patrolling regional waters. No US personnel were injured.
Four vessels—the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco—were struck in the Gulf of Oman. A fifth carrier, the M/T Derya, was attacked near Kharg Island, a key centre for Iran’s oil exports.
“American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,” CENTCOM said.
The US military did not report any casualties among the tankers’ crews.
CENTCOM described the five vessels as IRGC crude oil carriers and said they formed part of a multibillion-dollar network used to finance the force and Iran-aligned groups across the region.
The assertion about the vessels’ financial role was made by the US military. Iran did not immediately provide a detailed response to that specific accusation.
The latest operation followed another round of American strikes on September 5, when CENTCOM destroyed three Iranian crude oil carriers.
Those strikes came after the IRGC attempted to attack a US aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. The US military said neither warship was hit and no American personnel were injured.
The three vessels targeted in the earlier operation were identified as the M/T Downy, M/T Stark 1 and M/T Kylo, also known as the Noxen.
CENTCOM said all recent IRGC attempts to strike US Navy warships had failed.
The tanker attacks mark a further escalation in the military confrontation between Washington and Tehran in and around the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil-shipping corridors.
Iran subsequently launched ballistic missiles towards a US military base in Jordan and targeted vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian and regional authorities. Jordan said most of the missiles were intercepted and reported no casualties.
