Mohammad Sio
08 September 2026•Update: 08 September 2026
Iran’s navy warned on Tuesday evening that oil tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports will be targeted in retaliatory attacks, urging their crews to to evacuate immediately following reported US strikes on Iranian tankers, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
In a statement carried by IRIB, the navy said the warning was issued in response to US military attacks on several Iranian oil tankers.
It called on all crews of oil tankers anchored in ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels immediately, warning that the tankers will be targets of attacks.
The statement accused the two Gulf countries of hosting US forces and cooperating with them in the attacks on Iranian vessels.
The warning came after Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported earlier Tuesday that a small Iranian oil tanker had been struck by a US missile approximately four nautical miles from Kharg Island in the Gulf.
Tasnim said the vessel was hit near the island’s anchorage area, with no casualties reported and its crew being evacuated.
IRIB also reported that the US military attacked a second Iranian oil tanker near the coast of Jask in southern Iran.
The developments come amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US over the Strait of Hormuz, despite the signing of a memorandum in June that envisioned a deal to reopen the strategic waterway as prelude to a wider peace deal.