CENTCOM Strikes Five IRGC Oil Carriers, Cites Missile Attacks on a U.S. Warship

GULF OF OMAN — On September 8, U.S. Central Command said its forces struck five crude oil carriers it identified as belonging to the IRGC after the Guard twice fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. Navy warship over the preceding two days.

The command said the warship evaded both attacks, stayed on patrol, and that no American personnel were harmed in those ship attacks or the tanker strikes that followed.

It named the carriers as M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1, and M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, and M/T Derya near Kharg Island, and said U.S. forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable.

On September 5, the same command said it had disabled or struck three other carriers, M/T Downy off Kharg Island, M/T Stark 1 near Jask, and M/T Kylo, also called Noxen, in the Gulf of Oman, after ballistic missiles were launched toward a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, said then that the United States would answer fire on its ships by imposing a higher cost on Iran’s oil fleet.

Iranian state-run media, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, described a ballistic-missile attack on al-Azraq air base in Jordan on the same day as the tanker strikes.

Neither CENTCOM nor the Jordan Armed Forces General Command has said whether anyone was hurt there. CENTCOM’s statement that no personnel were harmed covers the ship attacks and the tanker strikes, and is not a theater-wide casualty report for Jordan.

After the September 8 tanker strikes, the IRGC Navy told crews of oil tankers at or near ports and anchorages in Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their ships at once, and said vessels that remained would be targeted, according to the IRGC Navy warning as quoted by Iranian state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, and as carried by Iranian state-run Tasnim.

On the same evening, Major General Ali Abdollahi, chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said any attack on Iranian oil tankers would result in the targeting of U.S. bases in the region.

Locations Affected

• Gulf of Oman: CENTCOM said four of the September 8 carriers, Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1, and Riesco, were struck in this water body. The command did not release coordinates for the aim points.

• Kharg Island, Iran, approximately 29.24, 50.31: CENTCOM said M/T Derya was struck near the island, the main Iranian crude-export terminal. On September 5 it also named M/T Downy off the same coast. Mehr, citing Tasnim, placed one September 8 hit about four miles (6.4 km) from the island.

• Jask, Iran: CENTCOM said M/T Stark 1 was disabled near this port on September 5. Iranian state television said at least one September 8 tanker was hit off Jask.

• Muwaffaq Salti Air Base at Azraq, Jordan, 31.83, 36.79: Iranian state-run accounts on September 8 described an IRGC ballistic-missile attack on this base, which hosts U.S. and Jordanian aircraft. The Jordan Armed Forces General Command has issued no September 8 or September 9 bulletin on that barrage.

• Ports and anchorages of Kuwait and Bahrain: the IRGC Navy on September 8 named these waters as the next tanker target set. No Kuwaiti or Bahraini confirmation of a new September 8 tanker hit in those ports has been published as of September 9.

Official Statements

• U.S. Central Command, September 8: “U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers, Sept. 8, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days. The U.S. warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed.”

• Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, September 8: “The aggressive US army has given Iranian oil tankers a warning to evacuate in order to attack them. So, I declare that any attack on Iranian oil tankers will result in the targeting of US bases in the region by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

• Esmaeil Baqaei, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, September 7: “Their account is completely untrue. The Islamic Republic of Iran is acting in self-defense in response to the continued naval blockade and ongoing economic warfare. Under these circumstances, Iran’s actions, including defensive strikes against US military bases or warships, clearly fall within its inherent right to self-defense, a right explicitly enshrined in and recognized under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.”

• Adm. Brad Cooper, commander, U.S. Central Command, September 5: “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”