US: We destroyed 5 Iranian oil tankers following attacks on a US warship
Amman3 min read
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US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday after Tehran fired ballistic missiles at a US warship twice over the past two days, according to the US military.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that it "destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers on September 8, after the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days. The US warship successfully evaded the Iranian attack attempts and continued its patrols in regional waters, with no injuries among US personnel."
Following that, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Wednesday that it would target oil tankers in Kuwait and Bahrain, demanding crews "leave their ships immediately," according to the official news agency "IRNA."
IRNA quoted a message from the Revolutionary Guard stating: "In view of the hostile acts committed by the terrorist US military by targeting a number of oil tankers belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran, we warn all oil tanker crews located in the vicinity of the piers of Kuwait and Bahrain, which host these terrorists and participate in their hostile acts, and caution them of the necessity of leaving their ships immediately, whether in holding areas or at the piers, because they will be subject to targeting."
The Iranian Tasnim news agency reported late Tuesday that the US military targeted a small oil tanker with a missile strike near Kharg Island, following reports of explosions heard in the area.
The agency quoted local sources confirming that there were no casualties resulting from the attack, and that the tanker's crew is being evacuated.
Chief of the General Staff Ali Abdollahi vowed that Iran would target US military bases in the region if Washington continues to bombard its oil tankers.
For his part, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio said that the United States will continue to target Iranian tankers with retaliatory strikes on Tuesday.
He told reporters during a visit to Colombia, "Iran continues its attempts to strike US ships, and every time it does so or attempts to do so, it will lose tankers, and I think you will see that again today."
CENTCOM stated on Tuesday that one of its underwater drones suffered a "technical malfunction" after Iran announced that its forces had seized a US underwater drone in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said, "An underwater drone operated by US forces suffered a malfunction more than a day ago. It was conducting a survey of regional waters in support of ongoing operations," without mentioning whether Iran had seized it.
He added, "The malfunctioning drone was of an older model, and was not collecting sensitive data or carrying any special classified sonar or radar equipment."
IRNA had reported that the Revolutionary Guard announced in a statement on Tuesday that "fighters of the Revolutionary Guard's naval force managed (...) to capture one of the US military's latest smart underwater drones at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz."
It added, quoting the statement, that "this smart underwater drone possesses the latest global technologies in the field of subsurface systems."
