Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced on the evening of Tuesday, September 8, that tankers near the ports of Kuwait and Bahrain hosting American personnel would be targeted, in response to US strikes against Iranian oil tankers. The Guards’ Navy warned all crews to evacuate, according to a statement broadcast by state media. Earlier, Tehran, through Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Ali Abdollahi, threatened new strikes against US bases in the region if Iranian tankers came under attack.
Iran: Two ships struck at Kharg Island and Jask
Two news agencies, Mehr and Fars, reported that explosions were heard at Kharg Island and Jask, near the Strait of Hormuz. According to reports, the US struck two Iranian vessels. Initially, the Tasnim agency reported that a small tanker was hit by an American missile near Kharg Island, with no casualties, as the crew had already abandoned the vessel. Subsequently, the US launched an attack on a second tanker near Jask, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
A US official told Reuters that American forces struck “multiple” Iranian tankers linked to the Revolutionary Guards, in retaliation for an attempted missile attack on a US warship. According to the Wall Street Journal, Iran launched an attack on Monday against US warships, without successfully hitting them. The US military has not officially confirmed this information.
