American forces have destroyed 10 Iranian tankers with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) over the past week, according to the U.S. military.
The attacks on Iranian tankers were carried out in response to attempted Iranian strikes against U.S. Navy warships in the Middle East.
In a Sept. 9 statement on social media, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) denied claims made by the IRGC that Iranian attacks successfully struck U.S. warships.
Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on Wednesday that Iran had targeted two U.S. warships. The Iranian state-run Fars News Agency claimed that the two vessels were damaged by ballistic missiles.
The IRGC also said it attacked eight oil tankers that were trying to cross a “prohibited and unsafe” area in the Strait of Hormuz.
“[IRGC] forces have claimed they struck two U.S. Navy destroyers operating in the Middle East. This is completely false,” CENTCOM said, responding to the claim in a statement on X.
CENTCOM confirmed on Wednesday that no U.S. warships had been hit by Iranian strikes and that all of the IRGC’s attempted attacks on them had failed.
The command added that U.S. forces had successfully destroyed 10 Iranian tankers over the past week.
CENTCOM said the tankers were “part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC” and suggested that Iran could not defend the ships.
The Trump administration has warned that the United States will strike Iranian tankers if the regime continues attacking U.S. Navy warships.
“Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.
The U.S. military has continued to enforce a blockade on maritime trade with Iran since July 14.
President Donald Trump ordered U.S. forces to restart the blockade following the collapse of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran that had temporarily paused the conflict and outlined a peace plan.
As of Sept. 7, U.S. forces had redirected 94 commercial vessels, disabled three ships, and boarded two others to ensure compliance with the U.S. naval blockade, according to CENTCOM.
On Sept. 8, U.S. forces destroyed the IRGC crude oil carriers Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1, and Riesco in the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. military also destroyed the Derya near Kharg Island.
The Iranian crude oil carriers were part of the shadow network accused of funding the IRGC and its proxy groups in the Middle East, CENTCOM said.
The strikes against Iranian oil tankers were carried out after the IRGC attempted to attack a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice in two days.
U.S. forces also struck three Iranian crude oil carriers on Sept. 5 after the IRGC launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy warships.
CENTCOM confirmed that a U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer evaded the Iranian attacks and that no Americans were injured.
The U.S. retaliatory strikes permanently disabled the IRGC crude oil carriers Downy off the coast of Kharg Island and Stark 1 near Jask. U.S. forces also destroyed the Kylo in the Gulf of Oman.
The three Iranian crude oil tankers targeted in the Sept. 5 strikes were also part of a “multibillion-dollar shadow network” funding the IRGC and Tehran’s regional proxy groups, CENTCOM said.
“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,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in a statement following the strikes.
The Epoch Times reached out to CENTCOM for further comment but did not receive a response before publication time.
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