Iranian tankers near Kharg Island
The US military said its forces destroyed the Iranian crude oil carriers M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, along with M/T Derya near Kharg Island. The strikes came days after Centcom said it destroyed three other Iranian crude oil carriers on September 5. Separately, the Trump administration on Tuesday imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector, targeting 27 Iranian airlines and nine service providers and sales agents accused of providing services to Mahan Air.
No US personnel were injured, Centcom said. US forces ordered the crews to abandon the vessels before striking them, leaving the tankers inoperable, according to Centcom. The US military said Iran had used the tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar “shadow network” to fund the IRGC and its regional proxy groups. The US said the earlier strikes followed an attempted Iranian attack on a US aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. Centcom said all attempts by the IRGC to attack US navy warships had failed.
However, Iran’s Mojtaba Khamenei-led Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed strong retaliation for the attack ordered by the Trump administration.