DUBAI, Sept 5 (Reuters) - U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran's key oil export hub.
The strikes were carried out after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy ships, Central Command said.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours," said Admiral Brad
Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command.
Tasnim, the semi-official Iranian news agency, reported earlier that four U.S. missiles hit a tanker in the area of Kharg's anchorage. Tasnim quoted local sources as saying there were no casualties and the tanker's crew was being evacuated.
No American personnel were harmed, Central Command said.
There was no immediate official announcement by Iranian authorities.
The exchange of attacks follows an escalation in the past week that threatens to deepen a conflict that has dragged on since the U.S. launched strikes on Iran in February, disrupting global energy supplies and drawing opposition from a majority of Americans before congressional elections in November.
TRUMP'S THREATS OVER KHARG ISLAND
U.S. President Donald Trump said on August 31 in a one-line social media post accompanied by an AI-generated video that Kharg Island was being "blown to smithereens". Iranian authorities have vowed a strong response if Kharg is attacked.
Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and exported 90% of its crude via Kharg Island before the war, but flows have been disrupted since a U.S. blockade of Iranian oil exports began in mid-April.
Trump said on June 11 that he wanted to take over Kharg Island, but then said a threatened U.S. military operation there was off the table for now, days before Tehran and Washington signed an interim agreement aimed at ending the war on June 17.
A U.S. attack on Kharg would further pressure Iran's oil industry and its wider economy, which is already reeling from the U.S. naval blockade.
The U.S. imposed its blockade on Iranian ports after Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway that carried one-fifth of the world's oil supply before the war.
Brent crude futures closed at their highest level since July 24 on Friday, at $96.28 a barrel, as tensions in the Middle East drive global supply concerns.
(Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Sharon Singleton and Timothy Heritage)
