Baghdad: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran against continuing its attempts to target US Navy ships, asserting that Washington would retaliate by striking Iranian oil tankers every time Tehran makes such attempts. Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia, “Iran continues its attempts to strike US Navy ships, and every time it does so or tries to do so, it will lose oil tankers.”

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Rubio’s remarks coincided with the announcement by US Central Command (CENTCOM) that it had destroyed five oil tankers it claimed belonged to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in response to two ballistic missile attacks on a US warship in the past two days. CENTCOM stated in a post on its X platform that the US warship evaded the attacks and continued its patrols without any casualties among its crew.

Central Command explained that its forces targeted four tankers in the Gulf of Oman on September 8: the Caves, the Charminar, the Horizon 1, and the Risco, in addition to the tanker Deria near Kharg Island. CENTCOM stated that Iran used the targeted oil tankers as part of what it described as a “billion-dollar clandestine network,” accusing it of funding the Revolutionary Guard and its proxies in the region. The Central Command added that Iran “has no means to defend these vessels.”