The U.S. military announced it had struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships came under missile fire.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the military said an aircraft carrier and a destroyer successfully avoided “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks,” with no U.S. personnel injured.
It added that two of the Iranian oil carriers were “permanently disabled,” while the third, which was empty, was destroyed.
The statement noted that the tankers belonged to a shadow network used to finance Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: if you target two of our ships, we will respond with an even greater economic cost—by taking out three of yours,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command.
Earlier, Iran accused the United States of attacking an Iranian tanker near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf.
