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CENTCOM on Saturday (local time) said that US forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers on Friday (local time), after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles toward two US Navy warships patrolling regional waters.
A US aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple Iranian strikes, with no American personnel harmed, according to CENTCOM. Following the strikes, US forces claimed that they permanently disabled the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Downy off the coast of Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask. According to CENTCOM, American forces also completely destroyed the unladen crude oil carrier M/T Kylo, also known as the Noxen, in the Gulf of Oman. It said that the vessel was struck at multiple critical locations to render it inoperable after its crew was directed to abandon ship. US War Secretary Pete Hegseth, after the reported strikes, said that the US would destroy Iranian oil tankers if Iran "attacks" US Navy ships. https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/2096261291446837699 In a post on X, Hegseth said, Its simple: if Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is not shoot at @USNavy." Irans oil tanker fleet is defenseless Iran has no navy or air force. Our planes, ships & subs can strike them all, in @CENTCOM & @USPACOM, he added. CENTCOM claimed that the three Iranian crude oil tankers were part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies, adding that Iran had no means to defend the vessels. 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 Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Irans limited and exposed oil fleet, Cooper added. Meanwhile, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that US forces had struck three Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman. According to IRIB, its reporter on Kharg Island in Bushehr Province said an Iranian tanker was targeted by US forces near Kharg Island in the morning, with no casualties reported. It added that the tanker's cooling system extinguished the fire within the first hour of the strike. IRIB also reported that two oil tankers were struck in the Jask area of Hormozgan province. One of the tankers was empty while the other was carrying oil, it said. The crews of the two tankers were transported to shore in lifeboats, according to IRIB. Earlier on Friday (local time), US President Donald Trump backed Vice President JD Vance's characterisation of the ongoing confrontation with Iran as not amounting to a war, describing the hostilities as an "intermittent" military conflict and calling it "small potatoes" for Washington. Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump, when asked to clarify Vance's "not a war" remark after recent US strikes against Iran for the first time in several weeks, said, "A lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us; it's not a big thing." The US President said that he understood Vance's position and argued that the current situation differed significantly from prolonged US wars in which American casualties were far higher. "I could see somebody not calling it a war," Trump said. (ANI)
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