Iran Says It Attacked Two US Vessels, Eight Oil Tankers in Strait of Hormuz
TEHRAN, IRAN — WEB DESK: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday that it had attacked 10 vessels, including two US ships and eight oil tankers, in and around the Strait of Hormuz, marking another escalation in the rapidly intensifying confrontation between Tehran and Washington.
Iranian state media cited the Revolutionary Guards as saying the vessels were targeted in a section of the strategic waterway that Iran has declared restricted and unsafe.
The Iranian announcement did not immediately provide detailed information about the identities of all the vessels, the weapons used or the extent of damage.
Independent confirmation of damage to all 10 ships was also not immediately available.
Reuters separately reported that Iran said it had attacked 10 ships, including two US vessels, as Tehran retaliated following US strikes on Iranian oil tankers.
Iran Claims Attacks on 10 Vessels
According to the Iranian account, the latest maritime operation involved two American vessels and eight oil tankers.
The Revolutionary Guards said the attacks occurred in waters Tehran considers part of a restricted zone.
The claim comes as Iran seeks to impose greater control over shipping around the Strait of Hormuz while the United States maintains its own military presence and maritime operations in the region.
Because the conflict is developing quickly and both sides are releasing military claims, the scale of damage from the latest Iranian operation remains unclear.
That distinction is important: Iran has confirmed that it claims to have targeted the vessels, but publicly available information does not yet establish that all 10 were destroyed or seriously damaged.
Attack Follows US Strikes on Five Iranian Tankers
The Iranian action came after the US military announced that American forces had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers.
US Central Command said those strikes were retaliation for Iranian ballistic missile attacks targeting a US Navy warship.
According to the US military, crews aboard the Iranian tankers were instructed to evacuate before they were struck, and no American casualties resulted from the earlier Iranian attempts against the US warship.
The five vessels identified by the United States were Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1, Riesco and Derya.
The US operation represented a significant expansion of Washington’s campaign against Iran because it directly targeted vessels connected with Tehran’s oil exports.
Iran Also Attacks US Base in Jordan
The maritime strikes formed part of a broader Iranian retaliation.
Iran also launched ballistic missiles at a US military base near Al Azraq in Jordan, according to Iranian state media and international reporting.
Jordanian and US officials said there were no casualties, while most of the incoming missiles were intercepted. Iran, however, claimed its attack inflicted significant damage.
Those competing claims have not been independently reconciled.
The combination of attacks on a US military facility and ships around Hormuz indicates that Tehran’s response extends across both land-based military targets and maritime routes.
Why the Strait of Hormuz Matters
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most strategically important energy corridors.
Before the current conflict disrupted normal shipping patterns, around 20 million barrels of oil per day — roughly one-fifth of global supply — were associated with flows through the waterway, making any sustained disruption potentially significant for energy-importing economies.
The narrow passage connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
Major oil and gas exporters, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar, rely to varying degrees on Gulf maritime routes, although some producers have alternative pipelines and export terminals.
That makes attacks on commercial tankers particularly sensitive for global markets.
Hormuz Shipping Traffic Falls
Commercial traffic through the Strait has already dropped below recent levels.
Preliminary data from shipping analytics firm Kpler showed that only six commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, compared with nine the previous day and a 10-day average of around 12.
Five of Tuesday’s vessels were inbound and only one was outbound.
However, shipping figures around Hormuz have become increasingly difficult to assess because some vessels are travelling with tracking transponders switched off.
As a result, preliminary vessel counts can underestimate actual traffic and may later be revised.
Iran and US Dispute Control of Hormuz
The latest attacks also form part of a growing confrontation over who controls access to the Strait.
US Central Command previously said American operations had diverted 94 vessels, searched two commercial ships and cleared 80 naval mines as part of its maritime campaign. It also claimed the Strait remained open and under US naval control. Iran has challenged Washington’s approach to the waterway.
Tehran, meanwhile, has announced plans for a new restricted maritime zone and warned that vessels entering areas it designates as unsafe could face consequences.
The competing US and Iranian positions have created an increasingly complicated environment for commercial shipping.
Oil Prices Near $100
The escalation is also being reflected in global energy markets.
Brent crude rose to around $99.22 per barrel on Wednesday, while US West Texas Intermediate traded around $94.13, as traders assessed the threat to Middle Eastern oil supplies.
Brent has risen by roughly 25% since early August, according to Reuters, as hopes for a lasting resolution to the regional conflict have weakened.
Recent attacks have added multiple sources of supply risk: US strikes against Iranian tankers, Iranian attacks on ships and US military targets, and Houthi attacks affecting Saudi Arabia.
A sustained disruption around Hormuz could place additional upward pressure on prices.
Maritime Data Becoming Harder to Read
One of the unusual features of the current crisis is uncertainty surrounding how much oil is actually moving through the Strait.
Reuters analysis noted wide differences between US government estimates and commercial shipping data, partly because of so-called “dark crossings”, in which tankers deactivate their automatic identification systems.
This creates problems not only for shipping companies but also for oil traders, governments and analysts attempting to assess the true scale of supply disruption.
The result is an additional geopolitical risk premium in crude markets.
Damage From Latest Iranian Attacks Unclear
For now, the central unresolved issue is the extent of damage caused by Iran’s latest maritime operation.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say 10 vessels were targeted, specifically identifying the group as two US ships and eight oil tankers.
However, Iranian authorities had not immediately released a detailed damage assessment, while independent confirmation covering all the vessels was unavailable.
The incident should therefore be reported as an Iranian claim of attacks, rather than as confirmation that 10 ships were destroyed.
That distinction is especially important as Washington and Tehran continue issuing competing military accounts during a fast-moving conflict.
Risk of Further Escalation Grows
The latest exchange shows that the confrontation is increasingly moving into the maritime and energy sectors.
Washington has targeted Iranian oil-export vessels, while Tehran says it is striking American and commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz.
That cycle creates risks extending far beyond the two countries.
A sustained reduction in Gulf shipping could affect crude availability, freight rates, marine insurance and inflation in energy-importing countries.
The immediate focus will now be on whether the United States confirms damage to its vessels, whether operators identify the eight tankers Iran says it attacked, and whether either side launches another round of retaliation.
Until those details emerge, the verified core of the story remains that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they targeted 10 vessels — two US ships and eight oil tankers — while the extent of the damage remains unclear.
