The US has struck multiple Iranian oil tankers, according to US officials, following further attempted missile attacks on a US Navy warship.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that a US missile struck an Iranian oil tanker near Kharg Island in the Gulf.
The tanker was hit approximately four nautical miles from the island on Tuesday evening, with no immediate casualties reported.
Tasnim said the vessel was struck by a projectile fired by US forces in the anchorage area of Kharg Island.
Local sources said the tanker's crew was being evacuated.
Another explosion was reported aboard an oil tanker off the Yekbani coast near Iran’s Jask port, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
The tanker’s crew were safely evacuated in the initial moments following the attack.
The targeting follows earlier reports of blasts heard on Kharg Island and in the city of Jask, Fars news agency reported.
Two of the explosions were heard around Kharg Island. Another blast was also heard in southern Jask.
Warning to tanker crews
The developments come amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US over the Strait of Hormuz, despite the signing of a memorandum in June that envisioned a deal to reopen the strategic waterway as a prelude to a wider peace deal
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy has meanwhile warned crews of oil tankers near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately leave their vessels, saying the ships could be targeted in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian tankers.
The warning, carried by Iranian state television, said the US military had targeted several Iranian oil tankers. It accused Kuwait and Bahrain of hosting US forces and assisting in the attacks.
The Revolutionary Guard warned tanker crews to abandon their vessels whether they were at anchor or docked, saying they “will be targeted.”
World oil prices climbed on Tuesday, once again closing in on $100 a barrel, and stock markets mostly retreated after a flare-up in the Middle East war.
