U.S. Forces Destroy One Iranian Tanker and Damage Two More

On Saturday, U.S. Central Command reported that Iranian forces attempted to hit a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier with ballistic missiles, prompting a severe American counterstrike that disabled two Iranian tankers and destroyed a third. 

In a statement, CENTCOM said that a U.S. aircraft carrier and a destroyer "successfully evaded multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks," and that all crewmembers were unharmed. In response, U.S. forces launched a counterstrike that "completely destroyed" a sanctioned shadow fleet tanker with IMO number 9189146 (operating as Kylo or Noxen) in the Gulf of Oman. 

“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. We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.” — Adm. Brad Cooper,… pic.twitter.com/UGGcSGsUtd

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) September 5, 2026

Video released by CENTCOM showed multiple hits on the tanker's weather deck, followed by two heavy strikes that blew through the port side shell plating and out the starboard side, consistent with an antiship cruise missile attack.  

The ship was in ballast at the time, reducing the consequences of a spill. Prior to the attack, the tanker's crewmembers were instructed to abandon ship. CENTCOM did not provide an update on their status post-strike. 

Video obtained by Iran International, filmed aboard a nearby vessel, captures the US military's radio warnings to the Iranian oil tanker STARK 1 before it was struck near Kharg Island.
Three warnings are audible over the VHF channel. In the first, a US military aircraft tells the… pic.twitter.com/7W8LfDNngM

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) September 5, 2026

Two additional Iran-linked tankers - Downy and Stark 1 - each received a single small missile strike in the transom, intended to disable but not completely destroy the vessels. CENTCOM emphasized that Iran has no way to intercept American attacks on these vessels.

“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 Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM's commander, in a statement Saturday. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

"If Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers," said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a statement. "Iran’s oil tanker fleet is defenseless — Iran has no navy or air force. Our planes, ships & subs can strike them all, in [the Mideast] and [the Pacific]." 

Iran has not recently targeted a carrier, a major escalatory step. Intentionally or otherwise, the timing followed shortly after White House leaders claimed that the conflict had settled into a calm, non-war status. On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance said that he "wouldn’t call it a war,” and that "right now, there is no active shooting.” President Donald Trump reiterated the point on Friday, suggesting that it was a "conflict" rather than a war because "it’s small potatoes for us."