Iran’s navy has warned that oil tankers docked at ports in Kuwait and Bahrain could be targeted in retaliatory attacks. Crews were urged to leave the vessels immediately after reports of US strikes on Iranian ships, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
The Iranian naval authorities said the warning came in response to US military attacks on several Iranian commercial oil tankers.
The naval command instructed all crew members aboard tankers anchored in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports to disembark without delay, explicitly warning that the vessels could become targets of military action.
The statement accused Kuwait and Bahrain of hosting US forces and co-operating with Washington in attacks on Iranian commercial shipping.
The warning followed a report by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency that an Iranian oil tanker had been hit by a US missile approximately 7.4 kilometres from Kharg Island in the Gulf. The missile reportedly struck the vessel near the island’s main anchorage. No casualties were reported, and the crew was evacuated safely.
IRIB later reported that US forces had attacked a second Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Jask in southern Iran, outside the Gulf.
The escalation comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States over the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The tensions persist despite a memorandum of understanding signed in June that established a roadmap for reopening the crucial shipping route as a first step toward a broader diplomatic settlement.
