{"id":783208,"date":"2026-05-09T01:41:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T01:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/783208\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T01:41:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T01:41:20","slug":"massive-oil-slicks-spotted-off-irans-kharg-island-as-trump-touts-hormuz-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/783208\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive oil slicks spotted off Iran\u2019s Kharg Island as Trump touts Hormuz clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump gave a vivid account of the Iranian attack on three U.S. destroyers, which were not damaged.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05de\u05e9\u05d7\u05ea\u05ea<\/a>\"\u05de\u05e9\u05d7\u05ea\u05ea<\/p>\n

USS Rafael Peralta in the Strait of Hormuz <\/p>\n

(Photo: CENTCOM)<\/p>\n

\u201cMissiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social. \u201cLikewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, new satellite images from the company Soar appeared to show large, fresh oil slicks off Kharg Island, Iran\u2019s main oil export hub. Tehran confirmed over the past week that oil production had been reduced because of the U.S. blockade, but the circumstances behind the slick remained unclear.<\/p>\n

It could be the result of a leak. Other claims have suggested oil was pumped into the sea because storage space had run out due to the blockade. In newer images, the oil slick appeared to be moving south.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05db\u05ea\u05de\u05d9<\/a>\"\u05db\u05ea\u05de\u05d9<\/p>\n

Satellite images appeared to show large, fresh oil slicks off Iran’s Kharg Island <\/p>\n

(Photo: Soar)<\/p>\n

Social media users expressed concern over what appeared to be an oil spill in the satellite images.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis must be dealt with quickly before the oil reaches the coasts of other Gulf states,\u201d a Saudi influencer wrote on X, where he has more than 750,000 followers.<\/p>\n

In a statement overnight, the U.S. military said the three destroyers involved in the exchange of fire with Iran and that crossed the Strait of Hormuz \u201csuccessfully,\u201d as Trump put it, were the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta and USS Mason.<\/p>\n

It was still unclear whether the destroyers crossed into the Gulf or out of it. Earlier this week, the ships were reported to be in Gulf waters as part of Project Freedom, an initiative announced by Trump. He quickly canceled it, saying he did so at the request of Pakistan\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

Iran fires missiles toward US vessels in Strait of Hormuz <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The three destroyers are Arleigh Burke-class ships. CNN has described them as the Navy\u2019s \u201cworkhorses,\u201d with 75 such ships in active service.<\/p>\n

Each of the three ships, more than 500 feet long, is equipped with multiple defense systems designed to counter ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and shorter-range threats. Advanced Standard missiles can intercept ballistic and cruise missiles, while the Sea Sparrow system can respond to other threats.<\/p>\n

Should targets get past those two systems, the destroyers can also use the Phalanx system, a radar-guided 20 mm Gatling gun capable of firing 4,500 rounds per minute and considered the ships\u2019 \u201clast line of defense.\u201d The destroyers also have a 5-inch, or 127 mm, gun mounted on the bow, intended for targets such as Iran\u2019s fast boats.<\/p>\n

U.S. officials confirmed that Tehran sent fast boats toward the destroyers. Trump said \u201cthe Iranian attackers… were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats\u201d and that they \u201cwent to the bottom of the Sea, quickly and efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran reported that \u201cthe enemy,\u201d later identified as the United States, had struck a pier on Qeshm Island. The U.S. said it struck Iranian military facilities responsible for the attack on U.S. forces, including missile and drone launch sites, command-and-control sites and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance facilities.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05d8\u05e8\u05d0\u05de\u05e4<\/a>\"\u05d8\u05e8\u05d0\u05de\u05e4<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump <\/p>\n

(Photo: REUTERS\/Kylie Cooper)<\/p>\n

Speaking to ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Trump described the exchange of blows between the sides as \u201cjust a love tap\u201d and said that, as far as he was concerned, \u201cthe ceasefire is going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran, which initially blamed the United Arab Emirates, claimed it launched its attack in response to a violation of the ceasefire after the destroyers crossed the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian military spokesman also threatened that Iran would respond \u201cforcefully and without hesitation.\u201d Later, however, Iranian television reported a \u201creturn to routine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSaudi Arabia seeks to calm the situation and supports Pakistan\u2019s efforts to reach an agreement to end the war,\u201d a Saudi source told the Saudi television network Al Arabiya. \u201cThere are parties seeking to present a misleading picture of Saudi Arabia\u2019s position for suspicious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trump gave a vivid account of the Iranian attack on three U.S. destroyers, which were not damaged. 3…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":783209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-783208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116542078786087963","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}