The United States military has claimed it destroyed or permanently disabled three Iranian crude oil tankers following an alleged Iranian ballistic missile attack on US naval vessels in the Persian Gulf, according to a statement issued by US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Saturday.
CENTCOM said in a statement posted on social media platform X that Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles at a US Navy aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer patrolling the Persian Gulf.
US warships successfully intercepted the attacks, CENTCOM said, adding that no US service members were injured or harmed.
CENTCOM said US forces responded by permanently disabling and destroying two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) crude oil tankers: the M/T Downey, positioned off Kharg Island, and the M/T Stark 1, near Jask port.
The command also claimed to have disabled an empty tanker, the M/T Kylo, also known as Noxen, in the Gulf of Oman.
The three tankers were part of a multibillion-dollar “shadow network” used to finance the IRGC and armed regional proxy groups supported by it, the US military claimed.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, issued a warning to Tehran.
“Our message to the IRGC is clear—if you fire on our ships, you will pay an even higher price. If necessary, Iran’s vulnerable oil fleet will be completely destroyed,” Cooper said.
Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that US forces had attacked an Iranian tanker near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf.
Citing local sources, Tasnim said no one was killed because crew members had been evacuated safely before the explosion.
On August 31, US President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video on social media saying that Kharg Island was being devastated.
Iran is the third-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Before the start of the US-Iran war in the Middle East, about 90% of Iran’s total crude oil exports passed through the key transit point at Kharg Island.