DUBAI, Sept 6: The US and Iran have exchanged attacks on ships in the Gulf region, marking another escalation in fighting that resumed last week after a period of relative calm, the BBC reports.
According to the US military, American forces “permanently disabled” two Iran-linked oil tankers, including one near Kharg Island, and “completely destroyed” a third in the Gulf of Oman. Iranian state media, however, said Tehran retaliated by striking three US-affiliated vessels and three oil tankers travelling through the Strait of Hormuz on routes Iran deemed unauthorised.
The BBC said it had contacted US Central Command for a response to Iran’s claims.
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US Central Command said Iranian forces had earlier targeted an American aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. Centcom, as reported by the BBC, said the US vessels successfully evaded the attacks and that no American personnel were injured.
Iranian broadcaster Irib reported that no casualties occurred in the US strike near Kharg Island. The crews of two tankers attacked in the Gulf of Oman were taken ashore by lifeboats, it said, adding that one vessel was empty while the other was carrying oil.
Irib later reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had attacked six ships, including three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and three vessels it described as affiliated with the US.
The BBC notes that Kharg Island is Iran’s main oil-export terminal, handling about 90% of the country’s crude exports. The Strait of Hormuz, meanwhile, is a critical global energy route and has effectively been closed since the conflict began in February.
Iran has sought greater control over shipping through the waterway, while US forces have helped vessels use a southern route through Omani waters. President Donald Trump has nevertheless declared the strait “open”.
The latest exchanges follow renewed US strikes last Sunday, which Washington said targeted rocket launchers intended for laying naval mines. Trump later described another US assault as “very heavy” but said the fighting would not continue for long.
According to the BBC, Iranian retaliatory strikes have targeted US-linked positions in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
US Vice-President JD Vance has also expressed scepticism over Iranian claims that American strikes killed four people, including two children, at a wedding in southern Iran. The Iranian Red Crescent said missile shrapnel struck the gathering, prompting Tehran to describe the incident as a war crime.
