Published September 2nd, 2026 - 07:52 GMT
ALBAWABA - The U.S. has conducted strikes on two Iranian tankers as retaliation for Iran’s own targeting of oil tankers passing through the strait in a new ‘tanker-for-tanker’ policy.Before this policy, U.S. attacks on Iranian ships were only meant to protect their naval blockade of the strait – now the U.S. is actively hitting tankers in an effort to discourage Iran from doing the same, as part of a policy approved by Trump.On Tuesday, the U.S. conducted a new wave of airstrikes after about a month of relatively tame contact between the warring nations; in that attack, the U.S. targeted two Iranian tankers anchored off Iran's coast north of the U.S. naval blockade line.The U.S. military bombed two Iranian government tankers tonight in retaliation for Iran's attack on two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz - AxiosTrump has reportedly approved the new "tanker for tanker" policy. pic.twitter.com/DpiXMM2HqJ— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 2, 2026 Alongside the tankers, the U.S. attacks hit around 100 other targets in what has been described as “mowing the lawn” – meant to prevent Iran from rebuilding their radar and missile capabilities – similar to Israel’s implementation of the strategy in Gaza strip and neighboring countries.A U.S. official told Axios that the attacks were successful in that they "bought at least a month" of lower threat levels for shipping in the strait, with 40 ships having transited in and out on Tuesday.Iran has claimed that the U.S. target civilians as well as military infrastructure, saying that the U.S. hit a wedding in the town of Kuhestak, killing at least four people and wounding at least 35.The U.S.’s only reply was "we're aware of the reports, which originated from Iranian state media. The U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC."
