The Trump administration destroyed five Iranian oil tankers near Kharg Island and Jask on Tuesday as the US added military might to its economic squeeze of the Islamic Republic.
US Central Command said in a statement that it carried out the strikes that downed five Iranian crude oil carriers in response to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) targeting of an American warship with ballistic missiles in the last two days.
That US warship evaded the Iranian attacks and no American personnel were harmed, per CENTCOM.
A satellite image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite shows a view of Iran’s Kharg Island on Saturday, March 7, 2026. EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images
But the IRGC lost its crude oil carriers “M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1, and M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman as well as M/T Derya near Kharg Island.”
“American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,” CENTCOM noted.
“Iran has used the tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies. Iran has no means by which to defend these vessels.”
CENTCOM forces previously destroyed three Iranian crude oil carriers on Sept. 5, following an IRGC attack on a US aircraft carrier.
It was the latest tit-for-tat between the warring nations, with Iran weighing its options for retaliation. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned Tuesday that ships in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports hosting US forces could be targeted in response.
A satellite image shows an oil terminal on Monday, March 9, 2026, at Kharg Island, Iran. via REUTERS
American forces attack the crude oil carrier M/T Stark 1 in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. CENTCOM / SWNS
American forces sank the unladen crude oil carrier M/T Kylo, also known as the “Noxen,” in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. CENTCOM / SWNS
Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Monday, September 7, 2026. AFP via Getty Images
This handout image released on September 7, 2026, shows a ballistic missile strike on trucks carrying military equipment from Saudi Arabia to the Al-Wadiah military camp in Yemen’s Hadhramaut province. ANSARULLAH MEDIA CENTRE/AFP via Getty Images
CENTCOM forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers on Sept. 8, 2026. @CENTCOM / X
The strikes came after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the prior two days. @CENTCOM / X
The U.S. warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. @CENTCOM / X
Numerous merchant ships belonging to Iran and other countries remain at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz in Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. Anadolu via Getty Images
Tehran relies heavily on oil exports to fund its economy and its military. And Kharg Island is the main hub for Iran’s oil industry, providing a seaport for the export of up to 90% of Iran’s oil products, as well as supplying storage for up to 30 million barrels of crude.
“This is the greatest economic isolation operation in the history of the world. We are going to asphyxiate this regime,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News this weekend.
He said the combination of US might in the Strait of Hormuz with economic sanctions is “one of the most powerful one-two punches in the history of economic isolation.”
Bessent launched Operation Economic Outcast in August to target countries facilitating Iran’s oil trade and other business that are propping up Tehran’s war efforts.
That’s since resulted in the sanctioning of a major Iranian bank and threats to cut off other financial shadow networks moving billions of dollars for the IRGC.
Iran’s Fars news agency also reported an explosion being heard in the southern Jask area off the Gulf of Oman and east of the Strait of Hormuz.