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🇦🇷 Argentina /Conflict & Security

US strikes three Iranian oil tankers after Iran attacks Navy vessels

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Ongoing story
  • The United States said it struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iranian missiles targeted US Navy vessels in the region, with no American personnel injured.
  • US officials said two tankers were permanently disabled and a third, which was empty, was destroyed because the vessels supported a clandestine network financing Iran's Revolutionary Guard and regional allies.
  • The attacks marked another escalation in a six-month intermittent war, as negotiations over Iran's nuclear program have collapsed and fighting has returned around the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States has struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iranian forces targeted US Navy vessels, opening another dangerous turn in a war that had appeared to quieten for a time. Washington warned that Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet could face further attacks.

If necessary, they will destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet.

· Admiral Brad CooperThe US Central Command chief warned of further attacks on Iranian oil vessels.

The US military said an aircraft carrier and a destroyer avoided “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” while patrolling the region. No US personnel were injured, it said. Two Iranian tankers were “permanently disabled,” while a third, which was empty, was destroyed.

Washington said the tankers formed part of a clandestine network that helps finance Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard and its armed allies across the region. The US said one tanker was hit off Kharg Island, another near Jask east of the Strait of Hormuz, and the empty vessel in the Gulf of Oman. Iranian state television earlier reported that four US missiles struck a tanker about 10 kilometers from Kharg Island, the site of a terminal through which Iran exports most of its oil.

Multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks.

· US military statementThe US military described the attacks it said its carrier and destroyer avoided.

The strikes came a day after President Donald Trump tried to play down the conflict by calling it “a minor thing.” They also followed the return of hostilities after a month of relative calm. At least five people were killed earlier in the week during a US bombardment in southern Iran, including in an attack that hit a wedding, according to the report.

A minor thing.

· Donald TrumpThe US president used the phrase a day before the tanker strikes, according to the report.

The war began with US and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28 and has lasted intermittently for six months. Both sides have targeted military and economic interests, while negotiations have broken down. The nuclear program that helped drive the conflict was supposed to be addressed in talks that collapsed soon after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding. US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said, “We will not hesitate to defend US forces and, if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet.”

Permanently disabled.

· US military statementThe statement described the condition of two Iranian tankers after the strikes.
About this summary

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, 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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