US says it struck Iranian oil tankers financing ‘regional proxies’

The United States says it struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired ballistic missiles toward two US Navy warships in regional waters.

US Central Command said a US aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer evaded multiple Iranian attacks on Saturday. No personnel were injured, according to the command.

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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.

The strikes targeted tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Iran’s Kharg Island. The US military said it disabled two Iranian crude carriers and destroyed a third, arguing that the vessels belonged to a multibillion-dollar network financing the IRGC and its “regional proxies”.

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We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.

“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,” CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

CENTCOM did not immediately provide details on whether the tanker strikes caused casualties. The action came a day after President Donald Trump described the conflict, which has killed 18 US service members and pushed up global energy prices, as “small potatoes”. Negotiations to end the six-month war launched by the US and Israel had collapsed, while both sides continued trying to inflict military and economic pain on the other.

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Small potatoes