U.S. Strikes Three Iranian ‘Shadow Network’ Oil Tankers, Military Says

The United States struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, according to the U.S. military, in retaliation for what it said were unprovoked attempts by Iran to attack two U.S. warships.

The reported exchange of fire came days after the two sides engaged in the most intense fighting in weeks. Iran did not immediately acknowledge any attacks on U.S. ships.

Iran’s state media had said earlier on Saturday that U.S. forces had struck an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of the strategically important Kharg Island, and Iranian news outlets had published images of a ship emitting black plumes of smoke.

Kharg Island, in the Persian Gulf, is Iran’s primary hub for oil exports, which have been squeezed for weeks by a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement on Saturday that it had struck three Iranian crude oil carriers. It said it had “permanently disabled” one off the coast of Kharg, and another near the southern port city of Jask. U.S. forces “completely destroyed” a tanker with no oil on it in the Gulf of Oman, after directing the crew to abandon ship, the statement said.

The statement said the three ships were part of a “multibillion-dollar shadow network” that funds Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its allied militant groups abroad. It described the strikes as retaliation, after the Guards attempted to hit two U.S. Navy ships with ballistic missiles. It was unclear when those alleged attacks happened.

“A U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks,” the statement said. “No American personnel were harmed.”

Admiral Brad Cooper, the U.S. Centcom commander, said the United States would impose an “even higher economic cost” on Iran if it shoots at U.S. ships, and that it would “if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet,” according to the statement.

The strikes come as the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway on Iran’s southern coast, has become central to the conflict between Iran and the United States. The strait previously served as a major shipping route for oil and other key commodities, but Iran has sought to control it since the country was attacked by the United States and Israel earlier this year.

The U.S. Navy has been helping ships navigate a southern route through the strait, near the coast of Oman, drawing retaliation from Iran. On Monday, two oil tankers were attacked within minutes of each other while trying to pass through.

There had been about a month of relative calm in the conflict between Iran and the United States until late August, when the two sides traded fire. This week, U.S. forces carried out a barrage of strikes in retaliation for Iranian attacks on ships and American forces in the region.

One of the strikes hit a wedding in southern Iran, killing five people and wounding dozens, according to Iranian officials.

President Trump issued a renewed threat to Iran on Friday, saying that the United States may strike Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected Iranian nuclear site, “very soon.”