Iran: US strikes three oil tankers. Hegseth: ‘It’s simple: if Tehran fires on US ships, we’ll sink them’

On Saturday, the US military stated that it had struck three Iranian oil tankers after some Navy warships had been targeted by missiles, warning that it would, “if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet”. The attacks mark a renewed escalation of hostilities following six months of sporadic conflict that began with the joint operation by Washington and Tel Aviv on 28 February. Two Iranian oil tankers were “permanently disabled”, whilst the third, which was not carrying a cargo, was destroyed. Centcom stated that the vessels were part of a covert network helping to finance the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its armed proxies in the region.

Tasnim, the news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has confirmed that an Iranian oil tanker was struck by the US armed forces near Kharg Island this morning, stating that there were no casualties. The agency, citing a journalist from Iranian state television, also reported that two further oil tankers were struck during US raids in the waters near the town, noting that one of them was carrying oil. Hours earlier, US Central Command had announced that American forces had struck three Iranian oil tankers after the Pasdaran had launched ballistic missiles at two US ships patrolling the waters in the region.

“It’s simple: if Iran fires on our ships, we will destroy their oil tankers. All they have to do is stop firing. Iran’s fleet of oil tankers is defenceless. Iran has neither a navy nor an air force. Our aircraft, our ships and our submarines can strike them all.” This was stated by the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, after US Centom announced that it had struck three Iranian oil tankers.

Il segretario alla Difesa degli Stati Uniti Pete Hegseth osserva la scena durante un incontro con il vice primo ministro e ministro della Difesa australiano Marles, tenutosi al Pentagono ad Arlington, in Virginia (USA), il 2 settembre 2026. Gli Stati Uniti e l’Australia hanno annunciato uno stanziamento di 580 milioni di dollari (500 milioni di euro) a favore delle nazioni insulari del Pacifico per contrastare l’avanzata cinese nella regione. EPA/SHAWN THEW

“We will not hesitate to defend American forces and, if necessary, to destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.” This was stated by Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command. The United States has stated that it struck three oil tankers: one off the coast of Kharg Island; another near Jask, east of the Strait of Hormuz; and a third, which was not carrying a cargo, was struck in the Gulf of Oman. Centcom has also released what it described as video footage of the attacks.

The US struck three Iranian oil tankers after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy warships engaged in patrol duties in the region’s waters. This was announced by CENTCOM, the US Central Command. A US aircraft carrier and a missile destroyer successfully evaded several unprovoked Iranian attacks. No American service personnel were injured.

A ‘terrorist group affiliated’ with Israel and the US ‘has been identified and dealt a decisive blow’ in the south-eastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced, adding that two ‘terrorists’ had been killed. The group accused of terrorism “was dismantled during a joint operation” carried out by the Pasdaran, forces from the Ministry of Intelligence and the police, according to a statement quoted by the IRNA news agency. The group “intended to carry out terrorist acts against pre-determined targets in the province, as part of the United States’ war against Iran”, the statement added.

Two Israeli settlers stormed the town of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, just a few metres from where the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, was meeting with Palestinian-Americans. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported the incident. The two entered the eastern part of the town on a quad bike, about 100 metres from the site of Huckabee’s visit, town councillor Awad Abu Samra told Wafa. Huckabee met with local officials from Turmus Ayya and Palestinian-Americans to discuss the ongoing attacks by Israeli settlers. The ambassador urged Israel to “ensure the safety” of West Bank residents.

A series of clashes today between Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, and the Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have left more than 60 people dead, including civilians, according to medical and military sources speaking to AFP. According to three Yemeni military sources, 26 government soldiers were killed during fighting that lasted several hours in the south-west of the country. Other Houthi medical and military sources report that 31 rebel fighters were killed. A medical source in the government-controlled city of Taiz reported that a missile strike killed six civilians travelling on a bus and injured a further seven.

Iran has become more confident in its own capabilities and “appears determined to continue the conflict for months, with the aim of frustrating the United States”, not least in the run-up to the mid-term elections in November. This is reported by the New York Times, citing officials familiar with US intelligence reports drawn up in recent weeks. Although the resumption of fighting appears limited, the pattern of Iranian attacks suggests that the government in Tehran is considering a significant escalation, the newspaper notes. This new hardline stance by the Iranian authorities appears to be rooted in a growing awareness of their own military strengths and their ability to strike targets in the Middle East, as well as in the shortage of US ammunition and the leverage provided by the economic consequences of the attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

“China’s emphasis on promoting common security reflects a principle that Iran has long upheld”: this was the view expressed in a post on X by the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who argued that “regional countries must take their future into their own hands”. “True stability can only be achieved through a new security architecture, devised and built within the region. Iran is ready,” added Ghalibaf.

“Americans, ask yourselves this: why should your sons and daughters have their debts written off in exchange for fighting and dying in a war that Israel wants to see continue and expand?” This is the message posted on X by the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei, who pointed out that “an opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post” is “openly proposing precisely this idea: using student loan and credit card debt to recruit Americans for the war against Iran. Your lives. Your taxes. Someone else’s war. Do not let anyone turn you into cannon fodder — and make you foot the bill — for a war you never chose’, is Baghaei’s appeal. “Don’t let anyone turn your children into mercenaries for their illegal ‘war of choice’. You know how, in *Squid Game*, you can risk your life to get out of debt? Well, you can do that today by enlisting,” he added.

An Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Kharg Island has been struck by four US missiles. This has been reported by several Iranian media outlets cited by Al Jazeera, notably the Student News Network (SNN) and the Khabar Fouri website, which state that the crew is currently being evacuated. Kharg Island handles around 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports.