US, Iran Trade Ship Strikes as Six-Month War Escalates — SkimNews
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- US Central Command "permanently disabled" two Iran-linked oil tankers near Kharg Island and "completely destroyed" a third in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, claiming the vessels were part of a "multi-billion-dollar shadow network" funding the IRGC and its proxies.
- Iran's IRGC retaliated against six ships — three US-affiliated vessels and three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz using "unauthorised" routes — after Centcom said it had "successfully evaded" earlier IRGC attacks targeting a US aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer with no American casualties.
- Kharg Island hosts Iran's main oil export terminal and handles roughly 90% of the country's crude oil; Iranian state media outlet Irib reported no casualties from Saturday's tanker strike and said crews from the two Gulf of Oman tankers were rescued in lifeboats.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on social media hours before Iran's retaliation: "if Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers," while President Trump has not commented on Saturday's strikes.
- President Trump dismissed the six-month conflict as "small potatoes" and "intermittent" on Friday — a day before the escalation — though the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed since the war began on 28 February and US diesel prices hit an average $5.85/gallon Friday versus $3.71 a year earlier.
- Vice-President JD Vance said he was "extremely sceptical" over Iranian claims that US strikes killed at least four people, including two children, at a wedding in Sirik, but confirmed the US would investigate the allegation.
Why it matters: Trump calls a war that's choked off roughly 20% of global oil and LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz "small potatoes," yet the squeeze is showing up at US pumps: diesel averaged $5.85 a gallon Friday versus $3.71 a year ago, intensifying political pressure ahead of the November midterms. Saturday's tit-for-tat tanker strikes — each side claiming no own-side losses — show the post-ceasefire escalation has hardened into a shipping-lane fight that directly feeds Iran's leverage over global energy markets.
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