{"id":674687,"date":"2026-09-06T01:29:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T01:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/674687\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T01:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T01:29:16","slug":"us-and-iranian-forces-launch-strikes-on-vessels-in-tehrans-waters-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/674687\/","title":{"rendered":"US and Iranian forces launch strikes on vessels in Tehran\u2019s waters \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

US<\/a> and Iranian<\/a> forces fired at vessels in waters around Iran on Saturday, including three Iranian oil<\/a> carriers struck by the Americans and three tankers that Iran said it targeted \u200bwhile on unauthorised routes in the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

US Central Command said it struck the three Iranian vessels, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran\u2019s oil export hub, after Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two US navy ships.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of \u200bour ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost \u2013 taking out three of yours,\u201d said Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, which oversees the US military in \u2060the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The IRGC responded by threatening intensified strikes against US military vessels in the region and said later it targeted the three \u200ctankers \u200cas \u200bwell as three US-linked vessels in other areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not be deceived by the \u2018terrorist\u2019 US military and refrain from any suspicious movement aimed at passing through unauthorised waterways,\u201d the IRGC Navy said in a statement carried on Iranian state \u2060TV. \u201cOtherwise, you will be targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tasnim, the semi-official Iranian news \u200bagency, had reported that four US missiles hit a tanker in \u200bthe area of Kharg\u2019s anchorage. Tasnim quoted local sources as saying there were no casualties and the tanker\u2019s crew was being evacuated.<\/p>\n

No American personnel were \u200charmed, Central Command said.<\/p>\n

\"AA damaged boatyard that was hit in recent days by strikes carried out by the US military at the Five-Step local fishing harbour in the port city of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on September 5th. Photograph: Atta Kenare\/AFP via Getty <\/p>\n

The exchange of attacks followed an \u200bescalation in the past week that threatens to deepen a conflict that has continued since the US and Israel<\/a> launched strikes on Iran \u2060in February, disrupting global energy supplies<\/a> and drawing opposition from \u2060a majority of Americans before congressional elections<\/a> \u200bin November.<\/p>\n

While US president Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s administration seeks to pivot toward an economic clampdown on Iran by widening sanctions, the president himself has kept open the possibility of military action.<\/p>\n

On August 31st, Trump issued a one-line social media post accompanied by an AI-generated video depicting Kharg Island being \u201cblown to smithereens\u201d. Iranian authorities have vowed a strong response if Kharg is attacked.<\/p>\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. Flows have been disrupted since a US blockade of Iranian oil exports began in mid-April.<\/p>\n

Trump has spoken of an attack on \u200cKharg before. He said on June \u206011th that he wanted to take over the island, but then said a US military operation there was off the table, days before Tehran and Washington signed an interim agreement aimed at ending the war on June 17th.<\/p>\n

A US attack on \u200cKharg would further pressure Iran\u2019s oil industry and its wider economy, which is already reeling from the US naval blockade.<\/p>\n

The US imposed its blockade on Iranian ports after Iran effectively \u200bshut the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway that carried one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil supply \u200bbefore the war.<\/p>\n

Brent crude futures closed at their highest level since July 24th on Friday, at $96.28 a barrel, as tensions in the Middle East drive global supply concerns. \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US and Iranian forces fired at vessels in waters around Iran on Saturday, including three Iranian oil carriers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,356,18,13,14,6,19,18929,17,71,11,12,15,16,5,9951,168834,7,8,384,259133],"class_list":["post-674687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-donald-trump","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-iran","tag-ireland","tag-israel","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-oil","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-united-states","tag-us-midterms"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117221508979893799","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}