The US military said on Saturday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles at two US Navy warships, after which it attacked three Iranian crude oil carriers.
The new exchange threatens to escalate a shipping war in and out of the Persian Gulf, as Iran seeks to prevent ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz without its consent and the United States steps up targeting of Iranian shipping.
The two countries exchanged attacks for the first time in more than a month earlier this week, but new attacks risk starting another cycle of retaliation.
“U.S. aircraft carriers and guided missile destroyers successfully fended off multiple unprovoked attacks by Iran,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement Saturday.
In response, the U.S. military “permanently disabled the Revolutionary Guard crude oil carriers M/T Downey off Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask.”
Outside the Persian Gulf, an empty crude oil tanker known as M/T Cairo was hit multiple times, rendering it inoperable and “completely destroyed,” according to CENTCOM.
CENTCOM said the ships are “part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the Revolutionary Guards and its regional agencies.”
“Let’s make our message clear to the Revolutionary Guards: If you shoot two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic price. That means we will destroy three of your ships,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander.
There were no signs of major Iranian retaliation by Sunday morning, but the Revolutionary Guards claimed on Saturday that it had attacked and damaged three U.S. ships. CNN has reached out to CENTCOM for comment on these claims.
Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told state media that an exclusion zone outside the Strait of Hormuz, including the Gulf region, will be announced within the next few days, Reuters reported.
“Simple: If Iran fires at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is stop firing at the @USNavy,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote to X on Saturday.
“Iran’s oil tanker fleet is defenseless and Iran has no navy or air force,” Hegseth wrote, adding that the United States could attack Iran’s oil tanker fleet in the Middle East or the Indo-Pacific region.
SNN TV reported that the footage shows an oil tanker targeted by the US.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the US action in a statement on Saturday, calling the attack “illegal and offensive” and “a clear threat to international peace and the security of commercial shipping.”
The ministry said the attack was a “clear violation” of the United Nations Charter.
And Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf, who has frequently issued fiery statements throughout the war, said on Sunday that “any aggression against Iran’s interests and security will receive a swifter, heavier and more painful response,” according to Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Earlier Saturday, Iranian news agencies reported that the tanker had been hit by a U.S. missile attack near Kharg Island. According to the Tasnim news agency, the tanker was hit by four projectiles fired by the US military. There were no casualties, authorities added.
Audio reviewed by CNN showed a US military aircraft alerting the ship through an emergency channel. One of them says in a voice with an American accent, “Motor tanker Stark 1, this is a US military aircraft. Preparing to fire at the stern. You have 10 minutes to remove the crew from the stern. It’s over.”
In the ensuing exchange, the ship is warned: “This was your last warning…get on the lifeboat and abandon ship immediately.”
The conflict between Iran and the United States is volatile, with the two countries vying for control of the Strait of Hormuz, which is critical to global oil supplies.
Khalg Island, an exposed coral reef off the coast of Iran, has typically handled about 90% of the country’s crude oil exports. The island has been under attack throughout the conflict, and US President Donald Trump has previously threatened to seize it.
Nearly 20 Iranian tankers, often fully loaded, are anchored near Kharg, unable to leave the bay because of the U.S. naval blockade, according to shipping data and satellite images.
More than 50 Iranian tankers are anchored across the Gulf and just beyond in the Gulf of Oman, according to ship tracking services.
On Thursday, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance denied the conflict could be called a “war,” adding that despite the recent escalation, “there was no active shooting.”
He also declined to give a date for an end to the conflict, suggesting it was up to Iran to end the war that began with a joint U.S.-Israel airstrike six months ago.
This story has been updated with additional information.
