Explosions Heard Near Kharg Island as Iran Claims the U.S. Struck One of Its Tankers
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Iran state television claimed Saturday without evidence that the United States struck one of the country’s oil tankers just six miles from the key strategic oil hub of Kharg Island.
The tanker was hit by four missiles but no one was hurt and the crew was evacuated, according to the Iranian report, which Reuters reported cited local source. U.S. Central Command did not verify or comment on the claim, according to the Associated Press.
Such a strike could signal increasing hostilities in the conflict between the United States and Iran, which has dragged on for more than six months and left at least 18 American service members dead.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly referenced attacking Kharg Island as the conflict has continued — mostly recently in a dramatic AI-generated video posted Aug. 30 to Truth Social.
In the clip, a helicopter pilot watches as explosions tear through the island’s oil field and harbor.
“Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote to accompany the post.
An attack on Kharg Island, which controls about 90% of Iran’s oil exports, would be crippling to the nation’s already struggling economy, experts have said.
Trump’s references to targeting Kharg Island have prompted ominous warnings from Iran.
“We attacked Kharg Island last night, knocked out a piece. I said, ‘Don’t touch the oil, because maybe we’ll take over Kharg Island,’” Trump said during the July NATO Summit as he discussed a then-recent attack on Kharg Island. . “I said, ‘Don’t hit the pipes, just hit everything else.’ And they hit it. They may hit it again tonight.”
The remark drew a swift answer from Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.
Rezaei wrote on X: “Come — we are waiting for you — and we promise that not a single American soldier will return alive.”
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