Iran Hits Six Ships in Hormuz, Kaylo Tanker Sinks
Revolutionary Guard says it hit six ships after a US strike on three Iranian tankers, CENTCOM confirms the Kaylo tanker sank off Oman.
The naval forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said they had struck back at six ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a day after US forces sank three Iranian tankers. US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that one of those tankers, the M/T Kaylo, sank on September 6 in the Gulf of Oman, but did not confirm the Iranian claim of a strike on six vessels.
This portal reported yesterday that the United States had destroyed three Iranian tankers following an Iranian attack on two American ships. That chain of retaliation is now continuing: the Guard says it targeted three tankers sailing through the Strait of Hormuz on a route Tehran calls unauthorized, along with three vessels linked to the United States. One of the tankers hit, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, was near Kharg Island, close to a key Iranian oil terminal, and was struck by four missiles.
CENTCOM has not confirmed that the Iranian strikes on the six vessels hit their targets, nor has it confirmed Iran’s earlier claim that the Guard fired ballistic missiles at a US aircraft carrier and a destroyer.
What Led to the Strike
The United States hit the three Iranian tankers after the Guard fired ballistic missiles at two American warships, according to CENTCOM. Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said at the time:
Let the message to the Revolutionary Guard be clear: if you fire on two of our ships, we will impose an even greater economic cost by destroying three of yours.
Iran’s naval forces subsequently warned ships passing through the strait to keep to the routes Tehran recognizes:
Do not be misled by the terrorist American military, and refrain from any suspicious movement aimed at passing through unauthorized shipping lanes. Otherwise, you will be a target.
The Kaylo Tanker at the Bottom of the Gulf of Oman
CENTCOM said the M/T Kaylo sank in the Gulf of Oman on September 6, adding that the tanker had “joined the Iranian navy at the bottom of the sea.” According to Gulf News, US forces had by that day redirected 92 merchant vessels that attempted to pass through the maritime blockade zone, disabled three, and boarded two. US Air Force F-35A fighters are patrolling the region’s waters.
Oil exports from the Middle East have fallen 39 percent from pre-war levels, according to figures cited by Gulf News.
Ghalibaf Vows a Harsher Response
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has announced that Tehran is changing its approach. Al Jazeera identifies him as the speaker of Iran’s parliament, while Gulf News describes him as Iran’s chief negotiator in the conflict. “The Americans had to understand that the era of proportionate responses is over,” Ghalibaf said, adding to Al Jazeera that “new attacks on the country will be met with a faster, harsher and more painful response.”
The conflict between the United States and Iran has been running since February 28, 2026, six months now, since American and Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian officers. Since then, the state of war has spread across the region: an explosion at a fuel tanker in western Iran killed 11 people and injured seven, while strikes in Lebanon killed four people, among the 20 injured were three children.
For the region and for Europe, including Serbia as an oil importer, the key question remains how long the drop in exports from the Gulf will last, and whether the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s main oil artery, will widen further before either side agrees to de-escalate.
