The United States military said Saturday its forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles toward two US Navy warships.
The fresh exchanges threaten to heighten a shipping war in and beyond the Persian Gulf, as Iran seeks to prevent shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz without its consent and the US steps up targeting of Iranian shipping.
The two sides traded strikes earlier this week for the first time in over a month, and the new attacks risk another retaliatory cycle.
“A U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks,” US Central Command said in a statement Saturday.
In response, US forces “permanently disabled the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Downy off the coast of Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask.”
