Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Sunday it struck three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and three U.S.-affiliated vessels elsewhere in the region.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its naval forces targeted tankers using what it called an unauthorized route through the strait, one of the world’s most important oil transit corridors. The claim came hours after the United States said it struck three Iranian crude oil carriers in response to attempted missile attacks on two U.S. Navy warships.
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U.S. Central Command said an American aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer evaded multiple ballistic missiles fired by the IRGC while operating in regional waters. No U.S. personnel were injured, the command said.
CENTCOM said U.S. forces then permanently disabled the M/T Downy off Kharg Island and the M/T Stark 1 near Jask. A third tanker, the M/T Kylo, also known as the Noxen, was destroyed in the Gulf of Oman after its crew was directed to abandon ship, the command said.
The U.S. military described the vessels as part of a multibillion-dollar network used to finance the IRGC and allied armed groups.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, said in a statement.
Iranian state media carried warnings that future strikes against U.S. military vessels could be more severe if Washington continued what Tehran called attacks on Iranian ships, harassment of commercial traffic or a naval blockade. The IRGC also warned vessels against using routes through the Strait of Hormuz that Iran has not approved.
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