US Army destroys 10 Iranian oil tankers during the week
Washington – Agencies: The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced yesterday that U.S. forces destroyed 10 Iranian oil tankers during the past week, while simultaneously denying that any U.S. warship had been attacked by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. In a post on the X platform, CENTCOM stated that the Revolutionary Guard had claimed to have bombed two U.S. Navy destroyers operating in the Middle East, affirming that this allegation was “completely baseless.” It added that “no U.S. Navy warship has been bombed,” noting that “all attack attempts launched by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have failed.”
Conversely, CENTCOM reported that U.S. forces managed to destroy 10 Iranian tankers in the past week alone, explaining that these vessels were part of a “secret network worth billions of dollars” used to finance the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. CENTCOM emphasized that Iran is “incapable of protecting these ships.” Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, said: “Let the message to the Revolutionary Guard be clear: if you fire at two of our ships, we will impose an economic cost on you far greater by destroying three of yours.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard outlined Tehran’s conditions for returning stability to the region and reopening the Strait of Hormuz: the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, an end to the siege on Yemen, and the release of Iranian assets. Brigadier General Hossein Makki, a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Guard, stated that ending the current status quo requires a comprehensive ceasefire, an end to threats, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, lifting the siege on Yemen, the release of $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and a halt to any interference in Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities. He stressed that these capabilities belong to Iran and that Iran has never sought and will never seek to develop nuclear weapons, based on religious rulings issued by Iran’s leadership.
Makki affirmed that Iran has reached an advanced stage of deterrence, noting that any enemy attack on two or three of its targets would be met with a response against 20 targets. He pointed out that reliance on internal strength and self-confidence has yielded significant capabilities, evident in the radical transformation of equipment and weapons from the 12-day war to the Ramadan war, which represents the outcome of intellectual and specialized investment by faithful youth in the country.
The spokesperson explained that the current war is, for the first time, transferring strategic damage to the American heartland, affecting its security and economic equations—an unprecedented occurrence in the history of international conflicts. He noted that this war has had an unprecedented impact on global supply chains, from energy and fertilizers to food and electronic chips, in a conflict targeting the world’s vital needs.
He further highlighted the return of geography to war equations, viewing the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic tool. Oil transit rates had dropped from 15 million barrels per day before the war to sharp levels, threatening the collapse of global supply chains. He revealed that U.S. oil reserves had declined from 415 million barrels before the war to 298 million, with a severe shortage of diesel and increasing pressure on land transport, reflecting the extent of damage inflicted on the U.S. economy by the war.
