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🇪🇬 Egypt /Conflict & Security

US military strikes three Iranian tankers in retaliation for missile attacks

From Egypt Independent · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Official statement Ongoing story
  • The US military said it disabled or destroyed three Iranian crude oil tankers after the IRGC fired ballistic missiles toward two US Navy ships.
  • Washington said the tankers belonged to a shadow network funding the IRGC and regional proxies, while Iran called the strikes illegal and aggressive.
  • The exchanges threaten to intensify a shipping confrontation around the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States says it struck three Iranian crude oil carriers after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles toward two US Navy warships. The new exchange risks widening a shipping war in and beyond the Persian Gulf.

If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost, taking out three of yours.

· Adm. Brad CooperThe CENTCOM commander described the US strikes as retaliation for Iranian attacks on two US Navy vessels.

US Central Command said an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer had evaded multiple “unprovoked Iranian attacks.” It said US forces then “permanently disabled” the M/T Downy off Kharg Island and the M/T Stark 1 near Jask. Outside the Persian Gulf, the unladen M/T Kylo was “completely destroyed” after repeated strikes intended to make it inoperable.

CENTCOM said the vessels formed part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that financed the IRGC and its regional proxies. Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, said, “If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost, taking out three of yours.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that US forces could target Iran’s tanker fleet in the Middle East or the Indo-Pacific, writing that the fleet was defenseless.

illegal and aggressive

· Iranian Foreign MinistryIran condemned the US attacks in an official statement.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the action as “illegal and aggressive,” calling it an “overt threat to international peace and the security of commercial shipping.” It said the strikes clearly violated the UN Charter. Iranian state media reported that officials would respond strongly to any attack.

overt threat to international peace and the security of commercial shipping

· Iranian Foreign MinistryThe ministry described the wider consequences it attributed to the strikes.

Iranian news agencies said the M/T Stark 1 was hit by four US-fired projectiles near Kharg Island, with no casualties reported. Audio authenticated by CNN captured warnings from a US military aircraft, including an order for the crew to clear the stern and later to abandon the ship immediately.

Motor Tanker STARK 1, this is the United States military aircraft. I am preparing to fire at your stern. You have 10 minutes to clear the crew from the stern of your ship. Over.

· US military aircraftAn audio recording captured a warning issued to the tanker before the strike.
About this summary

Originally published by Egypt Independent. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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