The engagement follows similar violence last week, as Iranian and U.S. forces have continued to trade fire amid stunted diplomatic efforts to end the war.
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U.S. forces struck five Iranian tanker ships on Tuesday in response to attempted missile attacks on an American warship, U.S. military officials said, marking the latest round of military action in a conflict with Tehran that is more than six months old.
The oil tankers are affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the paramilitary force that is the most powerful institution in Tehran, said a statement from U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East. The new attacks follow similar strikes that occurred last week, as Iranian and U.S. forces have continued to trade fire amid stunted diplomatic efforts to broker a permanent ceasefire.
Tuesday’s violence followed IRGC forces twice targeting a U.S. warship with ballistic missiles over the last two days, the Centcom statement said. The vessel — which U.S. officials did not identify by name — evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol waters in the region, U.S. officials said, adding that and no American troops were harmed.
The vessels destroyed include the Iranian motor tankers Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1, Riesco in the Gulf of Oman and the Derya near Kharg Island, a strategically important oil terminal in the Persian Gulf, officials said. U.S. troops directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were hit, the military statement said.
The Iranian government made no immediate public statements following the U.S. announcement. Earlier in the day, Iranian Deputy Parliament Speaker Ali Nikzad said the recent Iranian attacks on U.S. warships represent only a small fraction of Iran’s military capabilities, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency, a state media outlet.
The action Tuesday follows U.S. forces targeting three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after the IRGC launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy warships in the region, U.S. military officials said in a statement at that time.
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An American aircraft carrier and destroyer successfully avoided those attacks, and no U.S. service members were wounded, the statement said.
The U.S. Navy is enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports as Tehran keeps a tight grip on commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway long vital to the shipment of Middle Eastern oil and other commodities. Access to the strait, and the global economic implications of its closure, remains a major obstacle to ending the war.
Iran’s action on Saturday was followed by a U.S. attack on the Iranian motor tankers Downy, Stark 1 and Kylo, U.S. officials said. The Downy was off the coast of Kharg Island, an Iranian oil terminal in the Persian Gulf, while the Stark 1 was off the coast of the port city of Jask and the Kylo was in the Gulf of Oman, the U.S. military statement said.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, said in the statement. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
U.S. forces also carried out strikes on Iranian military infrastructure a week ago. Among the targets hit then were IRGC air-defense sites, radar systems, mine-laying equipment and maritime facilities, Centcom said in a statement at the time.
That action followed attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. service members in the region, Centcom said.
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