Iran touts military response as US maintains blockade, hits tankers

What the report says

Tehran and Washington are trading accusations after the United States said it struck three Iran-linked crude oil tankers in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for global energy supplies. Al Jazeera reported that CENTCOM released video on Saturday of tankers being hit near Kharg Island, Jask and in the Gulf of Oman, saying two were disabled and one sank. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard later released its own footage and said it had targeted vessels and a US-built sea drone near Iranian waters.

The article said Iranian officials portrayed the strikes as proof that a more forceful response may be coming. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran had moved beyond proportional retaliation and warned that further attacks on Iranian interests would bring heavier strikes. Iran’s foreign ministry called the US action illegal and described it as a war crime. CENTCOM said the Iranian attacks were evaded, and the report noted that there was no immediate evidence to confirm all of Tehran’s claims.

The dispute comes amid a months-long US naval blockade of Iran’s southern ports and sanctions pressure aimed at limiting Iranian oil exports. Al Jazeera said the US claims maritime traffic is holding up better than Iran says, while tanker-tracking data indicates regional crude flows have fallen sharply. The report adds that Iran is relying on limited workarounds, including floating storage and discounted sales to China, but experts say those routes cannot replace seaborne exports at scale. The developments matter because they raise the risk of escalation around one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints.