US Destroys Five Iranian Tankers After Attacks
US Destroys Five Iranian Tankers After Attacks
The News
The US military says it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps twice tried to hit an American Navy warship with ballistic missiles.
US Central Command said the warship evaded both attempts over the previous two days and no American personnel were harmed.
Iran hit back by firing ballistic missiles toward US targets in Jordan. Jordan's military said its air defenses intercepted 18 missiles and two more fell in unpopulated areas, with no reports of casualties.
The Ships
CENTCOM named the destroyed vessels as the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1 and Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, plus the Derya near Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export hub. The command said the crews were told to abandon ship before the strikes. Iranian state television also reported the attacks — near the southern port of Jask and at the Kharg Island anchorage — and said the crews were evacuated.
Timeline
US forces destroy three Iranian oil tankers after the Revolutionary Guards try to strike a US aircraft carrier and a destroyer with ballistic missiles, with a warning that Washington would "if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet." Iran later says it will announce a new "exclusion zone" near the Strait of Hormuz for vessels intending to transit.
The Revolutionary Guards target a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice, according to CENTCOM. The ship evades both attacks and keeps patrolling regional waters.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy warns tanker crews near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels immediately, accusing the two countries of hosting US forces and assisting the American attacks.
CENTCOM destroys five Iranian crude carriers. The Trump administration the same day sanctions more than two dozen commercial and private airlines and foreign cargo service providers tied to Iran's aviation industry. Brent crude briefly climbs as high as $99.46 a barrel.
Iran launches missiles toward US targets in Jordan, Iranian state media says. Jordan reports 18 intercepts and no casualties. CENTCOM says it has no information to offer.
Reactions
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the strikes are the price of attacking American ships. "Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships. And for every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers. And I think you'll see that again today," he told reporters Tuesday while on a trip to Colombia.
CENTCOM, in its statement: "The U.S. warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed."
Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, warned the tit-for-tat only invites more retaliation. "There is no kinetic solution to the Strait of Hormuz problem," he wrote on social media. "Every attempt to impose one only brings Washington and Tehran closer to an escalation that may become increasingly difficult to control."
What's Next
Rubio's standing threat means more Iranian tankers are likely targets the next time a US warship is fired on, and Tehran has threatened tankers sailing from Kuwait and Bahrain in return.
Watch the Strait of Hormuz. The US is escorting a limited number of ships through a route off Oman while Iran wants traffic to follow a corridor it chooses — and Iran has said it will declare an exclusion zone near the strait.
Watch the pump price too. Rising energy costs are a political problem for President Trump and Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections.
More
Eight Iranian tankers have now been destroyed or disabled since Saturday, according to American Greatness. The strikes are part of a dual military and economic squeeze: a US blockade of Iranian ports has cut the country's oil exports and battered its economy, while fresh sanctions aim to cut Tehran off from its remaining trading partners.
Both sides are fighting for control of the Strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world's oil passed before the war began more than six months ago. Jordan, a staunch US ally that hosts American forces, has been hit by repeat Iranian strikes.
Poll
Should the US keep destroying Iranian tankers in response to attacks on its warships?
Colleges Condemn Students Mocking Kirk Assassination Anniversary
Charleston White Arrested Again on Florida Battery Charge
Sep 13, 2026
Border Patrol Rescues MS NOW Crew in Desert
Sep 13, 2026
Supreme Court Restores Missouri's Old House Map
Sep 13, 2026
Alaska Drops Felony Voter Charges Against Samoans
Sep 13, 2026
Trespasser Breaches Harris' Malibu Estate; No Arrest
Sep 12, 2026
Hegseth Pressed Downed Airmen Into 60 Minutes
Sep 12, 2026
Houthis Seize Mokha, Choking Saudi Oil Exports
Sep 12, 2026
Altman Rules Out OpenAI IPO This Year
Sep 12, 2026
Jury Acquits Lil Durk in Murder-for-Hire Case
Sep 12, 2026
Judge: Trump Broke Law Halving FEMA Staff
Sep 12, 2026
Maher Calls Democrats' Gaza Genocide Claim a Lie
Sep 12, 2026
Blizzard Revives StarCraft, Sends Diablo to Netflix
Sep 12, 2026
Trump's Queens Childhood Home Sells for $1.93M
Sep 12, 2026
Scientists Find New Virus in Tick Invading US
Sep 12, 2026
Britain Bans Settlement Imports; US States Threaten Payback
Sep 12, 2026
Prison Fire Kills 7 as Kurds Protest Killing
Sep 12, 2026
Kosovo Rallies for Ex-President Before Hague Verdict
Sep 12, 2026
Cruz Booed at GameDay Over College Sports Bill
Sep 12, 2026
Blast Hits Bulgarian Arms Plant Supplying Ukraine
Sep 12, 2026
Sep 13, 2026