Iran's navy has warned that oil tankers berthed in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports will be targeted in retaliatory strikes, urging crews to evacuate immediately following reported US attacks on Iranian vessels, state broadcaster IRIB confirmed.
In an official statement carried by IRIB, naval authorities declared that the warning was issued in direct response to US military strikes targeting several Iranian commercial oil tankers.
The naval command called upon all crew members aboard tankers anchored in ports across Kuwait and Bahrain to vacate their vessels without delay, warning explicitly that the ships will become targets of military action.
The statement directly accused the two Gulf nations of hosting US forces and actively cooperating with Washington in the facilitation of strikes against Iranian commercial shipping.
Strikes near Kharg Island and Jask
The warning follows a report by Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency earlier Tuesday stating that an Iranian oil tanker was struck by a US missile roughly 7.4 kilometres from Kharg Island in the Gulf.
Tasnim reported that the missile hit the vessel close to the island's primary anchorage zone.
No casualties were reported, and the crew was successfully evacuated.
IRIB subsequently reported that US forces attacked a second Iranian oil tanker situated off the coast of Jask in southern Iran, outside the Gulf.
The maritime escalation unfolds amid severe tensions between Iran and the United States surrounding the strategic Strait of Hormuz, despite the signing of a memorandum of understanding in June that outlined a roadmap to reopen the vital shipping corridor as a precursor to a wider diplomatic settlement.
