The U.S. military struck three Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for an Iranian missile attack on American warships.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement on the 5th that it had struck three crude oil carriers in response to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps firing ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy warships patrolling the waters.
According to CENTCOM, the U.S. military disabled the tanker Downey near Iran's Kharg Island and the Stark 1 near the Jask area. It also destroyed the Kailo, an empty tanker in the Gulf of Oman. U.S. forces ordered the crews to disembark in advance, then struck the vessels repeatedly to render them inoperable. The tankers had been identified as funding sources for the IRGC and its proxy forces.
CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper warned that the strikes sent a clear message that attacking two U.S. vessels would draw strikes on three, imposing greater economic costs. He added that the U.S. would destroy Iran's oil shipping fleet if necessary.
The remarks amounted to a declaration that the U.S. will retaliate at more than double the scale of any attack on its forces. Military tensions between the two countries around the Strait of Hormuz have risen further as a result.
A U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer evaded the Iranian missiles, and no American casualties were reported.
Earlier, Iranian media reported the U.S. strikes on the tankers, saying explosions had been heard near Kharg Island, the country's largest oil export terminal.
The U.S. government has shifted its Iran strategy toward economic sanctions, but armed clashes have continued, including a strike on Iranian rocket launchers used to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz on the 30th of last month.
