DUBAI(National Times)- US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, US Central Command said, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran\u2019s key oil export hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strikes were carried out after Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy ships, Central Command said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost \u2014 taking out three of yours,\u201d said Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tasnim, the semi-official Iranian news agency, reported earlier that four US missiles hit a tanker in the area of Kharg\u2019s anchorage. Tasnim quoted local sources as saying there were no casualties and the tanker\u2019s crew was being evacuated. No American personnel were harmed, Central Command said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement on X, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Iran\u2019s oil tanker fleet was \u201cdefenceless\u201d after American forces struck three of them today. In a post on X, Hegseth reiterated the US claim that Iran had no navy or air force, writing, \u201cIt\u2019s simple: if Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is not shoot at [the US Navy]. He added that US submarines, warships and warplanes could \u201cstrike them all\u201d within the Central Command and Pacific Command areas of responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran warns against blockade<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokesperson for the Iranian military\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Head\u00adquarters has warned that if the US continues its naval blockade and \u201charassment of Iranian ships\u201d, then Iran will carry out more severe and potentially expanded strikes targeting American military vessels, Al Jazeera reported, citing a statement. The statement, carried by Iranian broadcaster IRIB, comes after the US claimed to have hit three Iranian oil tankers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exchange of attacks followed an escalation in the past week that threatened to deepen a conflict that had dragged on since the US launched strikes on Iran in February, disrupting global energy supplies and drawing opposition from a majority of Americans before congressional elections in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Bahrain urged citizens to \u2018exercise heightened vigilance\u2019 in a security alert. \u201cThe US embassy reminds American citizens that Iran has previously targeted civilian infrastructure in Bahrain, including hotels in Manama,\u201d the alert said, instructing US nationals to prepare for \u201cpotential flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kharg Island<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US President Donald Trump said on August 31 in a one-line social media post accompanied by an AI-generated video that Kharg Island was being \u201cblown to smithereens\u201d. Iranian authorities have vowed a strong response if Kharg is attacked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and exported 90 per cent of its crude via Kharg Island before the war, but flows have been disrupted since a US blockade of Iranian oil exports began in mid-April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said on June 11 that he wanted to take over Kharg Island, but then said a threatened US military operation there was off the table for now, days before Tehran and Washington signed an interim agreement aimed at ending the war on June 17. A US attack on Kharg would further pressure Iran\u2019s oil industry and its wider economy, which is already reeling from the US naval blockade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI(National Times)- US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, US Central Command said, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran\u2019s key oil export hub. The strikes were carried out after Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy ships, Central Command said. \u201cLet the message to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n