Iran regional confrontation

Unconfirmed: US strikes a small Iranian tanker off Kharg Island

ATTACK
Location
Kharg Island anchorage, Persian Gulf (~4 miles offshore; hull unnamed)
Actors
United States · Iran
Importance
Notable

Iranian media reported explosions around Kharg Island on the evening of 8 September and said US forces had hit a small Iranian tanker about four miles off the island, with no casualties and the crew evacuating. A US official told the Jerusalem Post that CENTCOM was striking Iranian oil tankers. CENTCOM had not named hulls or published a statement for this strike at packaging.

Tasnim, carried by Al Jazeera, placed the tanker in Kharg’s anchorage about four miles offshore and said there were no casualties. Mehr reported explosions in the vicinity of the oil hub. Fars, via Times Now, also reported a two-stage blast heard from the sea near Jask around 21:45 local time, with no smoke seen at Kharg. Armed Forces chief of staff Ali Abdollahi said the US had warned Iranian tankers to evacuate in order to hit them, and that any attack on Iranian tankers would bring strikes on American bases in the region; Khatam al-Anbiya, via Reuters as carried by the Jerusalem Post, warned of strikes on American interests if Iranian vessels were hit. Additional reports of a second or third hull were not named. This is not the 5 September CENTCOM package that named M/T Downy, Stark 1 and Kylo.

Why it matters

Kharg is still the door for Iranian crude. Another hull in that anchorage, even unconfirmed, is the tanker-for-tanker campaign still running three days after Saturday.

Verification: unverified

Evidence: US targets Iranian oil tankers, official tells 'Post,' as Iran reports explosions near Kharg Island, Tasnim reports US forces have attacked and struck a small Iranian tanker off Kharg Island; no reported casualties, Fresh explosions heard in Kharg Island, southern port of Jask as US missile strikes Iranian tanker

Tasnim, Mehr and a US official speaking to the Jerusalem Post. No CENTCOM named-hull statement, no ship name, no independent BDA. Do not treat a hit on the island itself as a fact; the reports are of a tanker in the anchorage and of explosions heard from the water.