IRAN REPORTS STRIKE ON US OIL TANKER AS GULF TENSIONS RISE

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Birds fly against the backdrop of smoke rising after a strike on the Iranian capital of Tehran on March 5, 2026. Israel pounded Tehran with fresh strikes and Iran targeted Kurdish guerilla groups in Iraq on March 5 as a spiralling war in the Middle East engulfed the entire region. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

AGENCY REPORT

Iranian state television said Iran had struck a US oil tanker in the Gulf with a missile on Thursday, the latest Iranian attack on the energy industry in the region.

The ship “was hit by a missile in the north of the Persian Gulf” and “is currently on fire”, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement reported by state television.

The incident, which has not been independently confirmed, came as the Guards said they had “full control” of the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is a vital oil and gas transit route.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abas Araghchi had earlier accused the United States of committing an atrocity by sinking an Iranian navy ship off Sri Lanka and warned it would “bitterly regret” the precedent set.

“The US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning,” he posted on X.

“Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set”, he added.

AFP