The U.S. military announced Saturday it struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships were targeted with missiles, warning that it would “if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
Escalation After Brief De-escalation
The strikes came a day after President Donald Trump sought to minimize the conflict as “small potatoes,” signaling a renewed shift toward fighting after six months of on-again, off-again war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28. Both sides have sought to inflict military and economic damage, and negotiations have collapsed.
According to the military’s statement, a U.S. aircraft carrier and a destroyer evaded “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” while patrolling in the region. No U.S. personnel were injured. Two Iranian oil carriers were “permanently disabled,” and the third, an unladen vessel, was destroyed.
Targeting Tehran’s Shadow Network
The U.S. statement said the tankers were part of a shadow network helping to fund Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and its armed proxies throughout the region.
Earlier, Iranian state TV reported that four U.S. missiles struck a tanker about six miles (10 kilometers) from Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil. Kharg Island has been repeatedly targeted during the war, including U.S. strikes on military sites there in March.
U.S. officials said one tanker was struck off Kharg Island, another near Jask east of the Strait of Hormuz, and the unladen tanker was hit in the Gulf of Oman. The statement included what it described as video footage of the strikes.
“We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
, Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command
Civilian Toll and Renewed Fighting
The strikes came nearly a week after the U.S. and Iran resumed attacks following a month of relative calm, with the strait and Iranian communities along it once again under fire. At least five people were killed earlier in the week during a U.S. bombardment of southern Iran, and one strike hit a wedding.
The resumption of fighting followed new U.S. efforts to apply economic pressure on Tehran. Iran’s hard-line new senior leaders have signaled a willingness to dig in after weathering decades of sanctions.
The Stakes Over the Strait
Meanwhile, the issue that helped lead to the war , Iran’s nuclear program , was meant to be addressed in negotiations that fell apart soon after the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June. Instead, Tehran’s new leverage focuses on the strait, crucial to global oil and natural gas shipments, which was seen as an international waterway before the war began.
The U.S. military has been helping to guide ships through the strait as Tehran asserts control and targets some vessels, though overall traffic remains low.