US Destroys Five Iranian Oil Tankers Near Kharg Island After Second Missile Attack On Navy Warship

Five months into a US blockade of Iranian oil, Washington destroys five more tankers — and Tehran orders its remaining fleet to run

PGurus Newsdesk

September 9, 2026

CENTCOM destroys five Iranian oil tankers near Kharg Island after the IRGC twice failed to hit a US warship — the second such strike in three days

Five months into a US blockade of Iranian oil, Washington destroys five more tankers — and Tehran orders its remaining fleet to run

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers on September 8, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) twice targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles over the preceding two days. The United States destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers near Kharg Island after the IRGC twice targeted an American Navy warship with ballistic missiles over the past two days, US Central Command said. The targeted warship evaded both missile strikes and suffered no personnel injuries or operational damage, remaining on active patrol in regional waters, according to CENTCOM.

Five Ships, Two Locations

Four of the vessels — the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco — were hit in the Gulf of Oman, while a fifth, the M/T Derya, was struck near Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export terminal. US forces issued direct instructions ordering the crews of all five vessels to evacuate before the strikes.

The Second Strike In Three Days

This marks the second major US operation against Iranian maritime infrastructure within three days. The first came on September 5, when CENTCOM said it had permanently disabled two crude carriers — the M/T Downy off Kharg Island and the M/T Stark 1 near Jask — and destroyed a third, the M/T Kylo, in the Gulf of Oman. A US aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer evaded multiple IRGC attacks during that earlier incident, with no American personnel harmed. CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper warned at the time that further Iranian attacks on US ships would draw a proportionally larger economic response against Tehran’s tanker fleet.

Iran Warns Its Own Tankers To Flee

Following the latest US strikes, the IRGC Navy told the crews of Iranian oil tankers docked at or near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to abandon their vessels immediately, warning they could become targets next. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would keep hitting Iran’s tanker fleet for as long as Tehran kept targeting US naval forces, with each new Iranian attempt drawing further consequences.

The Bigger Picture: A Blockade Five Months Old

Iran, OPEC‘s third-largest producer, exported 90% of its crude through Kharg Island before the war. Those flows have been disrupted by a US blockade of Iranian oil exports that began in mid-April, and the wider conflict has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil chokepoint. President Trump threatened in June to seize Kharg Island outright as US strikes on Iran continued. CENTCOM described Iran’s tanker fleet as part of a shadow network funding the IRGC and its regional proxies, and said Tehran currently has no way to defend the vessels.

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