US strikes three Iranian oil tankers after missiles target Navy ships

US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after missiles targeted American warships in regional waters. The attacks signal renewed military and economic pressure as nuclear talks with Tehran collapse.Image used for representational purposes onlyUS forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after American Navy warships were targeted with missiles, the US military said on Saturday. It said an aircraft carrier and a destroyer had evaded “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” while patrolling in the region and that no US personnel were injured.The strikes mark a return to direct fighting after six months of an on-and-off war that began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. Both sides have tried to inflict military and economic damage, while negotiations have collapsed.In a statement, the US military said two Iranian oil carriers were “permanently disabled” and a third, which was unladen, was destroyed. It said the tankers were part of a shadow network used to help fund Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and its armed proxies in the region.There was no immediate response from Iran. Earlier, Iranian state television had reported that four US missiles struck a tanker about 10 kilometres from Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which Iran exports most of its oil. Kharg Island has been repeatedly targeted during the war, including in US strikes on military sites there in March. The US said one tanker was struck off Kharg Island and another near Jask, east of the Strait of Hormuz. The unladen tanker was hit in the Gulf of Oman, and the US said its crew had been “directed to abandon ship”. After the US statement, Iran’s state broadcaster reported the two other attacks and said their crews had evacuated.“We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, said. The strikes came nearly a week after the US and Iran resumed attacks following a month of relative calm, with the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian communities along it again coming under attack. Earlier this week, at least five people were killed during a US bombardment of southern Iran. One strike hit a wedding.Masoumeh Zarei, 13, who was wounded in the attack, told The Associated Press from a hospital that the wedding celebration had already begun when she set out to join it. She said she never reached the venue and was knocked unconscious when a telecommunications tower was struck. “The party had just started, and we wanted to go there,” Zarei said, her voice hoarse. “I had made my nails really pretty for the party, but everything changed.”Her friend, 14-year-old Kiana Karimi, who was also wounded and in intensive care, told AP that she heard five explosions. “The first three explosions at the telecommunications tower threw us to the ground,” Karimi said. “I quickly got up to pick my brothers up off the ground. Then there were two more explosions, and after that I don’t remember anything.”The latest fighting follows new US efforts to increase economic pressure on Tehran. Iran’s new hard-line senior leaders have signalled that they are prepared to hold out after decades of sanctions, while the elected government of President Masoud Pezeshkian has said it favours a negotiated end to the war.Iran has over the years found ways to bypass sanctions, and now a US blockade of its ports, to get its oil to buyers and ease growing economic pressure. That effort relies in part on a shadow fleet transporting its oil. At the same time, the issue that helped lead to the war — Iran’s nuclear programme — was meant to be addressed in talks that collapsed soon after the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June. Diplomats now say the US, Britain, France and Germany want Iran referred to the UN Security Council for failing to comply with its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.Tehran’s leverage is now centred on the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and natural gas shipments that had been seen as an international waterway before the war began. The US military has been helping guide ships through the strait as Iran asserts control and targets some vessels, though overall traffic remains low. The latest strikes on the tankers underlined the renewed military and economic pressure in a conflict that has again intensified after a brief lull.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 5, 2026 21:24 IST