The United States communicated this Saturday that it has carried out attacks against three oil tankers linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in response to the missile fire against two U.S. warships operating near the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the U.S. Central Command, U.S. forces have "permanently incapacitated" the Revolutionary Guard tankers 'M/T Downy', located near Jarg Island, and 'M/T Stark 1', located near Jask. In addition, they have "completely destroyed" the empty tanker 'M/T Kylo', also known as 'Noxen', in the Gulf of Oman through several impacts on "critically important locations" to take it out of service after previously ordering the crew to abandon the ship.
The attack is framed as retaliation for the ballistic missile launch carried out by the Revolutionary Guard against two U.S. Navy ships patrolling in the waters of the region. "A U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided missile destroyer thwarted several unprovoked attacks from Iran. No U.S. military personnel were harmed," stated the U.S. Central Command.
Attacks and alerts in the Strait of Hormuz
The British maritime agency UKMTO, dependent on the Royal Navy and dedicated to monitoring incidents in the Strait of Hormuz, has noted the existence of two security episodes, one in the Strait itself and another in the northern part of the Persian Gulf, in the area where Jark Island is located.
In its notices, UKMTO refers to several vessels affected north of the coast of Oman and points out that various sources have reported attacks against different vessels in that area. The ships would have been subject to "neutralization fire."
For its part, Iranian official media have not provided their own information about these bombings and have limited themselves to reproducing the data disseminated by U.S. CENTCOM.
Financial network and warning from Washington
According to the U.S. military statement, the three tankers destroyed in the retaliation operation were part of the "phantom network" used by Iran to obtain funding for the Revolutionary Guard. The text also emphasizes that the three vessels "had no means to defend themselves."
"Let the message to the Revolutionary Guard be clear: if you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose a greater economic cost and eliminate three of yours," warned the commander of the U.S. Central Command, Brad Cooper. "We will not hesitate to defend U.S. forces and, if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and vulnerable oil fleet.
The Strait of Hormuz has consolidated itself as a strategic enclave after Iran decided to block the transit of oil from the Persian Gulf in response to attacks from Israel and the United States.