U.S. military says it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers; Tehran hits back at American targets in Jordan — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- U.S. Central Command destroyed five Iranian oil tankers — the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1, and Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, plus the Derya near Kharg Island — on September 8, 2026, after crews were told to abandon ship.
- Iran's Revolutionary Guards retaliated by launching ballistic missiles at U.S. targets in Jordan, where military air defenses intercepted 18 missiles and two fell in unpopulated areas with no casualties reported.
- CENTCOM said the tanker strikes followed two IRGC ballistic-missile attempts against a Navy warship over the prior two days; the ship evaded both attacks with no American personnel harmed.
- Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy warned oil tanker crews near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately evacuate their vessels, accusing both Gulf states of hosting U.S. forces that assisted in the attacks.
- The Trump administration imposed sanctions on more than two dozen commercial and private airlines plus foreign cargo service providers as part of a dual military-economic push to isolate Tehran.
- Iran announced a new "exclusion zone" near the Strait of Hormuz and claimed on September 9, 2026 to have struck two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Gulf in response to the U.S. attacks.
- Brent crude briefly climbed to $99.46 a barrel on September 8, 2026 as the escalation threatened energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly one-fifth of the world's oil transited before the war.
Why it matters: With Brent crude briefly hitting $99.46 a barrel and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy explicitly warning tanker crews near Kuwait and Bahrain to evacuate, the tanker war is now actively pulling additional Gulf states into the target zone — and Republicans face November midterms with energy prices climbing sharply as a direct consequence.
Ask SkimNews
