US Announces What It Has Done To Iran After Attack On Navy Ships, "No American Soldier Was Harmed"
- US Central Command said it struck five Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island after ballistic missile attacks on US Navy warships
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran would keep losing tankers every time it targeted American naval ships
- Brent crude oil prices briefly climbed to $99.46 a barrel as the conflict threatened a key global energy route
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Legit.ng as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
The United States military has destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in two separate strike operations, following what American commanders described as repeated ballistic missile attacks by Iran's Revolutionary Guards on US Navy vessels in the region.
US Central Command confirmed on Tuesday, September 4, that the tankers Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1, and Riesco were hit in the Gulf of Oman, while a fifth vessel, the Derya, was struck near Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Source: UGC
The military said crews aboard all five ships were ordered to abandon them before the strikes were carried out. No American personnel were harmed during the Iranian missile attacks, which a US warship successfully evaded on two separate occasions over 48 hours.
Iranian state television confirmed the attacks, reporting that tankers were hit near the southern port of Jask and in the Kharg Island anchorage area, and that crew members had been evacuated.
Rubio warns of more strikes to come
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, September 8, during a visit to Colombia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear the US intended to continue its response.
"Iran continues to try to hit US 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 said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy escalated the situation further by warning crews of oil tankers near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately leave their vessels, saying those ships could be targeted in retaliation. The Guards accused both Kuwait and Bahrain of hosting US forces and assisting in the strikes on Iranian tankers.
Hormuz conflict rattles global oil markets
The broader standoff centres on control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passed before the conflict began.
The US has been escorting a limited number of ships along a route off Oman, while Iran has announced plans to declare its own "exclusion zone" near the strait and insists vessels follow a route of its choosing.
Iran has also introduced a blockade of Iranian ports, limiting the country's oil exports and squeezing its economy. The disruption has pushed Brent crude oil prices to briefly touch $99.46 a barrel on Tuesday, adding political pressure on President Donald Trump and the Republican Party ahead of November's midterm elections.
Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, cautioned against the cycle of strikes and counter-strikes.
"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."
Saudi Arabia reacts as Houthis rebel attack
Previously, Legit.ng reported that Saudi Arabia accused Yemen's Houthi rebels of striking civilian and economic targets across four of its southern provinces, wounding at least 73 people, among them women and children.
Major-General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said in a statement that the Houthi attacks hit sites in the provinces of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran.
Source: Legit.ng
