US Destroys Five Iranian Oil Tankers in Escalating Conflict
The US military has destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in response to missile attacks on Navy warships, escalating tensions between the two countries. The strike is part of a dual economic and military approach by President Donald Trump to end the ongoing war.
On Tuesday, the U.S. forces also imposed sanctions on additional elements of Iran's aviation industry, targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers. This move aims to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners and exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world's oil passed before the war began.
The US Central Command said the Iranian tankers destroyed on Tuesday were the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1, Riesco, and Derya. The crews of these vessels were told to abandon ship before the attacks, according to the statement. Iranian state television reported that U.S. forces attacked Iranian oil tankers near the southern port of Jask and near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf.
Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, warned that such back-and-forth strikes can only risk more retaliation and further impact to the global economy. 'There is no kinetic solution to the Strait of Hormuz problem,' he said on social media. 'Every attempt to impose one only brings Washington and Tehran closer to an escalation that may become increasingly difficult to control.'