Overview
- The U.S. military carried out strikes on Saturday, Sept. 5, that CENTCOM said permanently disabled two tankers and completely destroyed a third.
- CENTCOM released video and identified the ships as M/T Downy, M/T Stark 1 and M/T Kylo, saying crews were ordered off and no U.S. personnel were wounded.
- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it struck three tankers and attacked vessels tied to the U.S., and Tehran also claimed it hit a U.S. unmanned surface craft, a claim U.S. officials dispute.
- Tehran announced plans to declare a new 'zone of exclusion' in parts of the Gulf and warned that future responses will be faster and harder, steps that have sharply cut commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
- The strikes have lifted oil prices toward $100 a barrel, strained shipping and insurance in the region, and deepen a conflict that began with major strikes on Feb. 28 and has already caused civilian and military casualties across the Gulf.