US strikes three Iranian oil tankers after it says warships were targeted

The US military has struck and destroyed three Iranian oil tankers in response to attempted missile attacks on its naval vessels. According to the US Central Command, an aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer evaded "multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks". The incidents occurred in the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, and off the coast of Kharg Island.

The US Central Command reported that it had permanently disabled a tanker near Kharg Island and another near the Strait of Hormuz, and completely destroyed a third in the Gulf of Oman. The attacks were attributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by Centcom. No American troops were harmed in the incidents.

The strikes come after a period of renewed hostilities between the US and Iran, which had been relatively calm for a month prior. US President Donald Trump had previously sought to minimise the conflict as "small potatoes". The US military claimed that the three Iranian oil tankers were part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Age, Al-Monitor, The Sydney Morning Herald, Haaretz, BBC News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.