U.S. Destroys Five Iranian Tankers; Oil Tops $100

On grainy video, the M/T Riesco is going down by the bow, listing hard with black smoke pouring off its hull while small boats stand off at a distance. There is no crew aboard to save it. The crew was ordered off before the Americans fired. ⁴ That single image — a crude carrier caught in the act of sinking in the Gulf of Oman — is the most concrete fact in a week of claims and denials: on September 8, 2026, the United States destroyed five Iranian oil tankers. ³

The retaliation, according to U.S. Central Command, was for two attempted Iranian ballistic-missile attacks in two days against one unnamed U.S. Navy warship. ² The ship evaded both missiles, no American personnel were harmed, and it remains on patrol with its name still undisclosed. ³ Four of the tankers hit in return — M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco — were Iranian crude carriers struck in the Gulf of Oman, while the fifth, M/T Derya, was hit near Kharg Island, Iran's principal crude-export terminal. ⁴

The number needs setting straight because the first reports got it wrong. Initial coverage said three tankers, but that was a separate, earlier action on September 5-6, when the United States struck three Iranian tankers after attempted missile attacks on an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer, both of which also evaded. ¹⁰ Central Command's own tally for the week was higher still — ten Iranian tankers tied to a shadow network destroyed in about seven days. ⁴⁸ The September 8 assault was the biggest single day in that count, and the largest wave of attacks on shipping since the war that frames it all began. ¹⁰

That war is six months old. It started February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury, joint strikes on Iranian military and nuclear installations whose opening salvo killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. ⁴³ What has followed is a grinding campaign that has now reached into the waters that carry Iran's oil. Striking the tankers is economic war against the Revolutionary Guard shadow fleet and a signal aimed at Iran's last real oil lifeline. ⁴⁸ Kharg Island historically handles about 90 percent of Iran's crude exports, a deep-water terminal that large tankers can use unlike much of Iran's shallow mainland coast. ⁹ President Trump had previously threatened the site itself. ¹

The economic consequence was immediate. Brent crude climbed above $100 a barrel on September 9, the first time since July, propelled by the strikes and by a recovery in Chinese oil buying. ³¹ Different outlets described it as pushing past, crossing, or hitting $100, while earlier in the cycle it was described as nearing $100, but the direction and the timing were consistent across Reuters, the BBC, Bloomberg and others. ^{32 33} The confrontation is described as the biggest wave of attacks on shipping since the war began, with missile salvos and destroyed tankers pushing benchmarks toward triple digits and threatening global supply through Hormuz. ^{10 37} At $100, oil is not just a market number — it is a live inflation threat to the broader economy. ³⁵

Iran answered within a day, and its answer came on two tracks. Tehran claimed attacks on two U.S. destroyers — DDG-119 Delbert D. Black and DDG-53 John Paul Jones — and on eight tankers, but Central Command said the destroyer-hit claims were false and that all Iranian attempts against U.S. ships failed. ¹⁰ What is confirmed is that Iran fired roughly 20 ballistic missiles at a base in Jordan used by U.S. forces, in the Muwaffaq Salti and Al-Azraq area, with Jordan saying it intercepted 18 of the 20 and the United States saying all its personnel were accounted for. ¹⁰ Iran also claimed attacks on 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz, and said it attacked more than a dozen vessels trying to pass through the strait on Wednesday. ⁴⁵

The Revolutionary Guard warned tanker crews near Kuwait and Bahrain — both of which host U.S. forces — to abandon their ships, whether at anchor or berthed. ⁴ Iran warned U.S. energy assets in the Gulf are vulnerable and said it would announce a new restricted zone in the Gulf in the coming days. ⁴² A U.S. effort to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz, called Project Freedom, was halted at Pakistan's request. ¹ Analysts note Iranian threats now directed at South Korean shipping and at Greece and Cyprus, which carry NATO implications, while Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia add pressure from a second front. ¹

The American position in those waters is itself being re-examined after substantial damage to bases. Officials are discussing reducing the U.S. Middle East presence. ¹ Retired Gen. David Petraeus, the former Central Command commander and CIA director, has said the large-base posture in the eastern Gulf is no longer viable, pointing to repeated Iranian missile and drone attacks on hubs including Al Udeid in Qatar and the Navy's Fifth Fleet facilities in Bahrain. ¹ He points as well to the unsustainable economics of launching expensive interceptors at cheap drones, a lesson drawn from Ukraine's cheap-drone mass. ¹ Other retired commanders, including Frank McKenzie, argue for dispersing forces and shifting weight westward rather than rebuilding concentrated bases. ¹

It is the strain on the Navy, not the warship that was actually under fire, that reveals how the campaign is exhausting those who fight it. The ship targeted on September 8 is not the Abraham Lincoln. ¹ The Lincoln left San Diego on November 21, 2025 and spent roughly seven months in the Central Command area under blockade and strike operations before being relieved by the USS George Washington. ¹⁵ It made its first liberty call in Laem Chabang, Thailand around September 2-6, after about 286 days away from home that included a 208-day uninterrupted stretch at sea. ¹ As of September 8 it was in the South China Sea, roughly 20 days from San Diego. ¹

This is what the longest deployment in history claim gets wrong. Reports describe the Lincoln as among the longest supercarrier deployments since the end of the Cold War and a candidate for second-longest, not the longest — the longest recent deployment is the USS Gerald R. Ford at 326 days. ¹⁶ Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao put the deployment at 266 days including 200 days in a combat zone on August 14, while other reports logged 277 days, then nearing 285. ^{18 16} President Trump has said the Lincoln's deployment was not nearly long enough. ¹ Its carrier air wing flew more than 10,000 sorties and delivered more than 1.5 million pounds of ordnance. ¹⁵

The extended deployment ground down the crew. Media described a mental-health crisis so severe that some sailors tried to jump overboard, along with exhausted crews and food shortages, and family members raised the alarm about conditions aboard. ^{19 20} The carrier's return was described as part of a planned rotation even as the Pacific-based George Washington headed toward the Middle East amid reports of issues aboard the Lincoln. ^{12 17}

What the five-tanker strike has not produced is any channel out. No diplomatic off-ramp between the two governments is visible. ¹ Oil at $100 a barrel threatens to feed inflation and higher interest rates far beyond the Gulf. ³⁵ Iran is threatening Gulf states and commercial shipping, Washington is debating whether its concentrated bases can survive another missile season, and the sailors who carried a 10,000-sortie air war have no end date in sight. ¹⁵ The campaign that sank five tankers in a day is a phase, not a settlement — economic war at sea, fought by an exhausted fleet, with escalation getting cheaper for one side and more expensive for the other. ¹⁰