OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:55 AM – Saturday, September 5, 2026
United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it has struck three Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attempted to target two U.S. Navy warships in patrolling regional waters with ballistic missiles.
In a statement on Saturday, CENTCOM confirmed that no American personnel were harmed.
“A U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks,” said the command.
U.S. forces retaliated by permanently disabling two IRGC oil carriers. M/T Downy was struck off the coast of Kharg Island, a small island off the coast of Iran that reportedly contains air defense equipment and underground mines. U.S. forces previously attacked military targets on the island, but purposefully left oil infrastructure alone. M/T Stark 1 was hit near Jask, a port city on the Gulf of Oman.
Unladen crude oil carrier M/T Kylo, known as the “Noxen,” was also “completely destroyed” in the Gulf of Oman after the crew was ordered to abandon ship.
“The three Iranian crude oil tankers are part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies. Iran has no means by which to defend them,” CENTCOM stated on X.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours,” said CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
Tasnim, a semi-official news outlet affiliated with the IRGC, reported earlier that the strike on an Iranian tanker near Kharg Island happened on Saturday morning. It reported no casualties and said the crew was evacuated.
The latest attacks came nearly a week after the U.S. and Iran resumed strikes after about a month of relative calm in the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
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