"War of Tankers" Raises the Cost of Confrontation Between Washington and Tehran
Washington, Tehran – Reuters, AFP – The escalation between Washington and Tehran has entered a new phase of military confrontation through a “tanker war” in the Strait of Hormuz, while the US campaign to strangle the Iranian economy by imposing a blockade on oil exports and preventing circumvention of sanctions has become increasingly difficult to bear, according to three senior Iranian sources cited by Reuters.
Six months after US-Israeli strikes on Iran, the war appears to be in a stalemate. A preliminary ceasefire agreement reached last June has collapsed, and no significant progress has been made in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
Following a pause in military operations for most of August, mutual strikes resumed. US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Saturday evening that it had bombed three Iranian vessels, one of them off the coast of Kharg Island, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy ships. CENTCOM stated that these vessels were “part of a shadow network” financing the Guard with “billions of dollars.”
The IRGC responded by threatening to intensify strikes on US military ships in the region and later announced the targeting of three tankers and three other ships linked to the United States in other areas.
In a statement broadcast on state television on Sunday morning, the IRGC added that its forces “targeted a US military naval vessel (a remotely operated unmanned boat) that was attempting to enter the protected zone in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that the IRGC shot down a US reconnaissance drone over Erbil in northern Iraq, describing the act as “part of a broader effort to eliminate US air surveillance and early warning systems in the region.”
For its part, CENTCOM announced on the X platform that, as of September 6, it had rerouted 92 commercial vessels, disabled three ships, and inspected two others to ensure strict compliance with the blockade.
On August 31, Trump posted a one-line message on social media, accompanied by an AI-generated video showing Kharg Island being “flattened.”
Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad stated in an interview broadcast on state television that the island had been shelled approximately 550 times over the past few months, but operations had not stopped.
Speaking to CNN, he said, “The average oil flow through the strait is currently more than nine million barrels per day. With pipelines around the strait, we are likely reaching two-thirds or more of the pre-conflict flows. So, the Iranians are still causing problems, but the US Navy is winning this battle.”
Following the attacks, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said the United States must realize “before it is too late that the rules of the game in the war against Iran have changed.”
He pointed to sharp fluctuations in currency exchange rates, inflation, unemployment, and market management as major challenges, adding that Iranians are capable of enduring hardships but cannot tolerate mismanagement or inaction, and expect the government to act swiftly.
Former US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that the war with Iran could likely continue for another six months, hinting that it might turn into “another eternal war in the Middle East, without a clear horizon for its end.”
Panetta, who also served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under Barack Obama, told The Guardian in an interview that “the United States and Iran are stuck in a dangerous stalemate, with very limited options to end this war.”
