US and Iranian forces launch strikes on vessels in Tehran’s waters
US and Iranian forces engaged in a series of maritime strikes in the Strait of Hormuz, with the US targeting three Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for Iranian missile attacks on US navy ships. The escalation follows months of heightened tensions and disrupted global energy supplies.
Why it matters
This direct military confrontation threatens to destabilize global oil markets and significantly escalate the ongoing geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.
US and Iranian forces fired at vessels in waters around Iran on Saturday, including three Iranian oil carriers struck by the Americans and three tankers that Iran said it targeted while on unauthorised routes in the Strait of Hormuz .
US Central Command said it struck the three Iranian vessels, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran’s oil export hub, after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two US navy ships.
“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 Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, which oversees the US military in the Middle East.
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