Tehran, Iran – The United States continues to rely on a mix of military force and economic sanctions against Iran, which has so far only prompted authorities in Tehran to consider more forceful responses. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) released video on Saturday showing three Iranian crude oil tankers being hit – one off Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, another near Jask and a third in the Gulf of Oman. Two were “permanently disabled”, while a third sank after extensive bombing, CENTCOM said.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later aired video of its own, showing explosives-laden projectiles crashing into multiple ships in the Strait of Hormuz. It added that a US-built sea drone was hit while trying to enter Iranian waters in the vital waterway, through which one fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes in peacetime. The IRGC also said on Sunday it had fired several ballistic missiles towards a US aircraft carrier and another warship that are part of the network of vessels imposing the months-long naval blockade of Iran’s southern ports.
Both vessels sustained some damage and fled, said the IRGC, although there was no immediate evidence of a successful hit and CENTCOM said the attacks were “evaded”. The IRGC said it considered the acknowledgement by the US that missiles were launched towards its warships as “live evidence of the enemy’s strategic defeat and proof” of the force’s “offensive capabilities”. Speaking during a private meeting of parliament members on Sunday, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran has inflicted “significant blows” to US bases across the region to the “frustration” of leaders in Washington.
Any further attacks against Iranian interests will be met with “faster, heavier and more painful” strikes from Iran, he warned. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the US attacks on Iranian ships illegal and a “war crime” that runs counter to the United Nations Charter. US and Iranian officials provide different readings of what is transpiring after months of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the naval blockade imposed since mid-July.
The administration of President Donald Trump says more vessels have transited the strategically important waterway over recent weeks under US guidance, despite threats and attacks from Iran, with traffic allegedly nearing pre-war levels on some days. That account is countered by Iranian authorities, which say the strait remains closed. The US military said about 90 commercial vessels have been redirected as part of the blockade, with several more disabled or boarded.
Crude oil exports from the Middle East during August were down 39 percent since the January and February baseline of 18.5 million barrels per day (mbpd), according to TankerTrackers. It said the current deficit is now 7.2mbpd, down from 12.4mbpd in May. Iranian authorities have confirmed that they have been unable to get crude oil past the US warships imposing the blockade.
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