US Strikes Three Iranian Oil Tankers After Navy Ships Targeted

US Central Command says it disabled two Iranian tankers and destroyed a third after ballistic missiles were launched toward two Navy warships.

US Central Command said Saturday it struck three Iranian oil tankers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles toward two US Navy warships patrolling the region. According to the military statements reported by BBC, CNBC, NPR, and NBC News, one tanker was permanently disabled off Kharg Island, another was disabled near Jask, and a third, unladen tanker was destroyed in the Gulf of Oman. Centcom said a US aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer evaded multiple attacks and that no American personnel were harmed. Iranian state media earlier reported one of its tankers was struck near Kharg Island, and Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said no casualties were reported, per NBC News.

Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper framed the strikes as a direct economic answer to the missile launches: "If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours." He added, "We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet." NBC News identified the vessels as the M/T Downy off Kharg Island, the M/T Stark 1 near Jask, and the M/T Kylo in the Gulf of Oman, reporting that the Kylo's crew was directed to abandon ship before the strike. War Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X that Iran's tankers would be destroyed and sunk if it kept shooting at US Navy ships, according to CNBC.

The escalation is notable because the US had previously targeted Iranian military sites while sparing the country's energy infrastructure. NBC News reports that US forces struck military targets on Kharg Island in March but deliberately left its oil facilities untouched, with Trump warning at the time that energy facilities could be targeted if Iran kept interfering with Strait of Hormuz shipping. The strikes followed a week of renewed fighting after roughly a month of relative calm, and came a day after Trump downplayed the conflict as "small potatoes" during an Oval Office exchange with reporters, as the Associated Press reported via NPR. Centcom claimed the tankers were part of a multi-billion-dollar shadow network funding the IRGC and its regional proxies.

Kharg Island is the backbone of Iran's oil trade, and Iran exported 90% of its crude through the island's terminal before the war, according to CNBC. Iran is OPEC's third-largest producer, and the US blockade of Iranian oil exports that began in mid-April has disrupted those flows. The war has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil waterway, and the disruption has raised energy prices worldwide — pressure Trump is facing from American consumers ahead of November's midterm elections, as BBC reports.

The tanker strikes came one day after the Treasury Department sanctioned a small Turkish investment bank and two subsidiaries, accusing them of funneling Iranian oil revenues through China to Turkey, where the funds were converted to cash and gold, according to CNBC. The action against Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi was the second major financial institution targeted under "Operation Economic Outcast," the administration's effort to isolate Tehran by sanctioning its business partners. Trump has also escalated rhetorically, threatening in June to seize Kharg Island and posting an AI-generated video of the island being blown up on August 31, CNBC reports.

A 60-day ceasefire between the US and Iran formally expired last month with no diplomatic settlement in sight, and negotiations that collapsed after a mid-June memorandum of understanding were meant to address Iran's nuclear program — the issue that helped spark the war, NPR reports. Iran's hard-line new leadership has signaled willingness to dig in after decades of sanctions, while Tehran's leverage centers on the Strait of Hormuz, where the US military is helping guide ships through low overall traffic.