Overview
- On Saturday the U.S. military said it struck three Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, releasing video that showed fires and saying two ships were permanently disabled and a third was destroyed.
- CENTCOM said the tankers were part of a billion-dollar shadow network that finances the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies, and CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper warned U.S. forces are prepared to target Iran’s lightly protected oil fleet.
- The IRGC said it had struck three tankers on what it called non-authorized routes through the Strait of Hormuz and targeted three U.S.-linked ships elsewhere, and Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the U.S. action and threatened harsher attacks if hostilities continue.
- The strikes took place near Kharg island, the main terminal for Iran’s crude exports, a location that increases the potential for disruption to commercial shipping even though the UK Maritime Trade Operations has not reported confirmed civilian-tanker attacks in the strait.
- This incident follows a cycle of attacks and reprisals between the U.S. and Iran that resumed after a pause earlier this year, and it raises the prospect of wider regional escalation, with officials, shipping operators and diplomats watching for more strikes or maritime warnings.