The U.S. military destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island on Tuesday. The strikes occurred after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice in two days. Iran retaliated by launching missiles toward American targets in Jordan.
U.S. Military Destroys Five Tankers After Missile Strikes on Warship
The United States Central Command stated that American forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island on Tuesday. According to military officials, the targeted vessels included the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1, and the Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, alongside the Derya near Kharg Island. American forces directed the crews of all five vessels to abandon ship before executing the strikes. Centcom described the targeted tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies, though the military did not provide further details.
The operation followed a pair of failed ballistic missile attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against a U.S. Navy warship over a 48-hour period. The U.S. warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed, according to Central Command. U.S. forces had previously destroyed three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards tried to attack a U.S. aircraft carrier and destroyer with ballistic missiles. The U.S. military warned at the time that it would, if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.
Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships. And for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers. And I think you’ll see that again today
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State
Regional Retaliation and Jordan Missile Interceptions
Following the American maritime strikes, Iran launched missiles toward U.S. targets in Jordan, according to Iranian state-run media. Jordan’s military said its air defense systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles launched toward its territory and two others fell in places where no one lives, reporting no casualties. Jordan is a staunch U.S. ally that hosts American forces, making the kingdom’s military bases a target of repeat Iranian strikes. U.S. Central Command stated it had no information to offer regarding the Jordan strikes. Iranian state television also reported the U.S. strikes, stating that U.S. forces attacked Iranian oil tankers near the southern port of Jask and near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, and confirmed that crews were evacuated.
Separately, an earlier dispute arose over an American underwater drone in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state TV claimed naval forces seized the submersible as part of a complex intelligence and operational action at dawn, and stated images of the vessel would be released shortly. However, the U.S. military stated the unmanned submarine had malfunctioned more than a day earlier. In a statement, U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a United States Central Command spokesperson, said the submersible was defective and an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment. Hawkins noted that operations in area waters continue.
Economic Fallout and Global Oil Market Pressures
The ongoing conflict around the Strait of Hormuz—a crucial waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments passed before the war began—has severely squeezed Iran’s economy through a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports limiting its oil exports. Simultaneously, the Trump administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on additional elements of Iran’s aviation industry, targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers in a new push to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners. President Donald Trump has struggled to bring an end to the unpopular war, which has claimed the lives of 18 U.S. service members. Iranian authorities have previously put the overall death toll from U.S. and Israeli strikes in the thousands, figures that outside observers, including U.S.-based monitoring groups, have broadly corroborated.
The renewed exchanges of fire following a month of relative calm in August have sent global oil prices back up to levels last seen in July. A barrel of international standard Brent crude briefly climbed as high as $99.46 on Tuesday. Rising energy prices are posing political problems for Trump and his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections. Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, warned on social media that such back-and-forth strikes only risk more retaliation and further impact to the global economy. There is no kinetic solution to the Strait of Hormuz problem, he said, adding that every attempt to impose one only brings Washington and Tehran closer to an escalation that may become increasingly difficult to control.
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