U.S. Military: 5 Iranian Crude Oil Tankers Destroyed
The U.S. military announced that five Iranian crude oil tankers had been destroyed and released footage of the attacks.
Military tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated once again. In a statement issued by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), it was stated that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had targeted a U.S. warship twice with ballistic missiles over the past two days. CENTCOM said, “The U.S. warship successfully evaded Iran’s attack attempts, continued its patrol mission in the waters of the region, and no U.S. personnel were injured.”
The statement said that, in retaliation for the failed attack attempts, CENTCOM forces struck five Iranian crude oil tankers on September 8. It stated, “CENTCOM destroyed the crude oil tankers ‘M/T Kaviz,’ ‘M/T Charminar,’ ‘M/T Horizon 1’ and ‘M/T Riesco’ in the Gulf of Oman, as well as the ‘M/T Derya’ tanker near Khark Island. U.S. forces instructed the crews to abandon the vessels before the tankers were struck and rendered inoperable.”
“Iran has no means to protect its vessels”
It was alleged that the targeted tankers were part of a multi-billion-dollar network financing the IRGC and its proxies in the region, adding, “Iran has no means to protect these vessels.”
Footage released by CENTCOM showed Iranian oil tankers being struck by U.S. forces, with smoke and flames rising from some of the vessels.
“Iranian M/T Riesco sank following U.S. attack”
Hours later, CENTCOM announced that one of the Iranian tankers struck by the United States, M/T Riesco, had sunk in the Gulf of Oman. The footage released showed the large tanker engulfed in flames after being struck by U.S. missiles before gradually sinking beneath the water.
