US Video Shows Iranian Oil Tanker Sinking in Oman Gulf, With a Clear Message

US Central Command released video of the Iranian oil tanker M/T Kylo burning and sinking in the Gulf of Oman, presenting the strike as a direct warning to Tehran. CENTCOM said the vessel went down on Sept. 6 after US forces hit key positions on board.

The M/T Kylo was one of three Iranian crude-oil tankers targeted by CENTCOM on Sept. 5. The United States said the other two, the M/T Downy and M/T Stark 1, had been “permanently disabled.” Washington said the Kylo was not carrying cargo when it was attacked and that its crew had been ordered to leave the ship.

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The message to the IRGC is clear: If you fire on two of our ships, the United States will impose an even greater economic cost, removing three of your ships.

CENTCOM described the operation as retaliation for missile launches by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against a US aircraft carrier and destroyer patrolling regional waters. No US service members were injured, according to the report. The United States accused all three tankers of belonging to a multibillion-dollar clandestine oil-transport network used to finance the IRGC and allied proxy forces in the region.

“The message to the IRGC is clear: If you fire on two of our ships, the United States will impose an even greater economic cost, removing three of your ships,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said.

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War crimes

Iranian state television later reported that Tehran had targeted three oil tankers and three US ships in response, although the claim had not been independently confirmed. Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the attacks “war crimes” and warned that the consequences of continued US aggression, including what it called “economic warfare,” would fall on Washington and its allies.

The strikes came as the United States and Iran resumed fighting after about a month of calm. At least five people were killed in a US attack on southern Iran earlier in the week. Iranian affairs expert Danny Citrinowicz said Tehran’s use of ballistic missiles against a US aircraft carrier suggested it was increasingly willing to take risks it had previously avoided, including directly threatening major US military assets in the region.

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shows that Tehran is increasingly willing to accept risks that it previously sought to avoid