US Destroys Five Iranian Oil Tankers as Tehran Threatens Vessels Off Kuwait, Bahrain

US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday after Tehran twice attempted to strike an American warship with ballistic missiles in recent days, marking a renewed escalation in the conflict between Washington and Tehran. US Central Command said the tanker crews were ordered to leave the vessels before American forces attacked them.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,” CENTCOM said, according to AFP, describing the operation as retaliation for Iran’s latest failed attacks. The five vessels were identified as the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1, Riesco and Derya. They were struck in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island, the center of much of Iran’s oil export infrastructure, according to AP. The attacks followed repeated Iranian attempts to hit US Navy vessels. None of the Iranian ballistic missiles struck their intended American targets, according to US officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington intended to continue hitting Iranian tankers if Tehran persisted in targeting US naval forces. Speaking during a visit to Colombia on Tuesday, Rubio said each new Iranian attempt to attack US ships would bring further consequences for Tehran’s tanker fleet. The latest US strikes quickly triggered a threat of retaliation from Iran. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy warned crews aboard oil tankers at or near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to abandon their vessels immediately, saying the ships could become targets. Other Topics of Interest Moscow Used US Envoys to Deliver Tougher Peace Demands Ukrainian media is questioning the optics of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and New York real estate magnate Steve Witkoff spending three-and-a-half hours over lunch with senior Kremlin figures during their Moscow visit. The IRGC accused Kuwait and Bahrain of facilitating US military operations because both countries host American forces. Iranian state media said tankers at anchor or docked in the two Gulf states could be targeted. The threats raised fresh concerns over commercial shipping in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil transit routes. Tuesday’s strikes came after the US military hit three Iranian oil tankers over the weekend following earlier Iranian ballistic missile attacks on US Navy ships. Washington had warned that it was prepared to further target Iran’s oil fleet if attacks on American forces continued. Oil prices climbed toward $100 a barrel Tuesday as renewed US-Iran fighting and threats to Gulf shipping intensified fears of further disruption to global energy supplies. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.