US strikes 3 Iranian oil tankers after Navy targeted — SkimNews
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- U.S. Central Command struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after a U.S. aircraft carrier and destroyer evaded "multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks"; two carriers were "permanently disabled" and an unladen third tanker destroyed, with one hit off Kharg Island, another near Jask, and a third in the Gulf of Oman
- Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, warned the military would "if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet," with the Pentagon saying they targeted vessels in a shadow network funding Iran's Revolutionary Guard and armed proxies
- President Trump had sought to play down the conflict as "small potatoes" just a day before the strikes, highlighting the gap between his public framing and the military's escalation back toward open fighting after six months of on-again, off-again war
- The strikes killed no U.S. personnel but came the same week as a U.S. bombardment of southern Iran that killed at least five people—including a strike that hit a wedding—after fighting resumed following a month of relative calm
- Tehran's leverage has shifted to the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global oil and natural gas artery where the U.S. military has been guiding ships as Iran asserts control and targets some vessels, though overall traffic remains low
Why it matters: The strikes target Iran's economic lifelines—oil exports that fund the IRGC—while Tehran counters with leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil and gas shipments. With nuclear negotiations having collapsed after a mid-June memorandum of understanding and Trump publicly minimizing the war as "small potatoes" even as the military escalates, the gap between political rhetoric and battlefield reality is widening after six months of fighting.
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