U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers Saturday after Iran launched ballistic missiles toward two U.S. Navy ships, the U.S. military said. A U.S. aircraft carrier and guided missile destroyer evaded multiple attacks by Iran’s Islamic Major Guard Corps, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. No American personnel were harmed.

Strikes Target Oil Carriers Near Key Strategic Locations

CENTCOM said U.S. forces retaliated by permanently disabling two crude oil carriers, the M/T Downy off the coast of Kharg Island and the M/T Stark 1 near Jask. Forces also destroyed a third vessel, the M/T Kylo near the Gulf of Oman. The Kylo was not carrying oil at the time and its crew was directed to abandon the vessel before American forces struck it in multiple locations, CENTCOM said.

“If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

Kharg Island’s Role in the Conflict

Kharg Island, a tiny but strategic island 15 miles off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf, plays a central role in the country’s oil industry. There are also military capabilities there, including air defenses and mines buried underground. The site has repeatedly emerged as a flashpoint during the conflict. U.S. forces struck military targets on the island in March but deliberately spared its oil infrastructure. President Donald Trump said at the time that the U.S. could target the energy facilities if Iran continued interfering with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The island is critical to Iran’s finances.

Broader Maritime Enforcement and Seizures

Earlier this month, the New York Times, citing U.S. officials, reported that Iran is finding it increasingly difficult to reopen the Strait of Hormuz due to its inability to locate all the naval mines it planted during the war. Trump’s announcement comes on the same day the Pentagon said the U.S. military had seized another tanker associated with smuggling Iranian oil.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the U.S. Department of Defence said, confirming the Majestic X tanker had been boarded in the Indian Ocean.

Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by U.S. forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan in China. The seizure of the Majestic X is at least the fourth Iranian-flagged tanker that has been diverted by U.S. forces and comes after three other vessels were intercepted in waters off India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

This follows Iran firing on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seizing two of them on Wednesday, intensifying its attacks in the strategic waterway which remains closed. Those attacks came less than a day after President Donald Trump extended a fragile truce while maintaining a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait, where 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime.