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# Five More Iranian Tankers Destroyed as Oil Tops $100
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/five-more-iranian-tankers-destroyed-as-oil-tops-100/
- Published: 2026-09-09T16:40:19.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-09T16:40:19.000Z
- Description: U.S. forces destroyed five more Iranian oil tankers after missile attacks on an American warship, escalating the conflict around the Strait of Hormuz as shipping slowed and Brent crude rose above $100 a barrel.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Breaking News

Five more Iranian oil tankers were destroyed by U.S. forces on Tuesday after Iran twice launched ballistic missiles at an American warship, the U.S. military said, widening a maritime conflict that pushed Brent crude above $100 a barrel and slowed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a fraction of normal levels.

U.S. Central Command said the American ship evaded both attacks and no U.S. personnel were harmed. Its [statement](https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PUBLIC-RELEASES/Article/4593050/us-destroys-5-irgc-tankers-after-iran-targets-another-american-warship/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) identified the vessels as the Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1 and Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, and the Derya near Iran’s Kharg Island export hub. CENTCOM said crews were directed to abandon the ships before they were struck and rendered inoperable.

Iran then said it attacked 10 ships near Hormuz, including two U.S. vessels, while the Revolutionary Guards threatened a larger off-limits zone extending east toward Chabahar. Those are Iranian claims, not independently established facts. CENTCOM denied that American warships were hit. [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-attacks-us-base-jordan-ships-near-hormuz-after-tankers-sunk-2026-09-09/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) described the exchanges as the biggest declared wave of attacks on shipping by both sides since the six-month-old war began.

The immediate consequence is no longer confined to the ships involved. At 11:15 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, front-month Brent futures were up 3.5% at $101.32 a barrel after reaching $101.55, while West Texas Intermediate was up 3.7% at $96.48, according to [market data](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/brent-crude-rises-above-100-barrel-middle-east-conflict-escalates-2026-09-09/?ref=theamericanquorum.com). The renewed rise above $100 signals that traders are again pricing a prolonged disruption rather than a short burst of retaliation.

## Retaliation moves deeper into commercial shipping

The five U.S. strikes marked a material escalation from the three-tanker operation reported on September 5\. In that earlier action, CENTCOM said it destroyed the Sea Bird, Avin Star and Raya after attempted Iranian attacks on a U.S. aircraft carrier and destroyer. The latest [TAQ report](https://www.theamericanquorum.com/us-strikes-three-iranian-tankers-after-missiles-target-navy-ships/) documented that first round; Tuesday’s operation added five vessels, brought the confrontation closer to Kharg Island and triggered a much broader Iranian claim of retaliation against shipping.

CENTCOM characterizes the tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar network that finances Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and allied groups. That characterization explains the U.S. target selection, but it does not by itself establish the legal status of every vessel, cargo or crew. The military’s account confirms the U.S. strikes and its evacuation instructions; it does not provide a complete public casualty assessment, damage survey or legal justification for each ship.

Iranian state media said its forces struck eight tankers and two American vessels and separately targeted ships trying to cross Hormuz. The [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/ae03ad7a30b113a8acca045ea10ad8b2?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported those assertions alongside CENTCOM’s denial that U.S. warships were damaged. Separately, Reuters reported one seafarer killed and another missing after the latest attacks. The available reporting does not yet establish which belligerent was responsible for every damaged commercial vessel, underscoring how rapidly claims are moving ahead of independently verified incident reports.

## Hormuz traffic falls to a trickle

Only six commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, according to preliminary Kpler tracking reviewed by [shipping data](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/shipping-traffic-via-strait-hormuz-stays-below-10-day-average-data-shows-2026-09-09/?ref=theamericanquorum.com). That was down from nine on Monday, below a recent 10-day average of about 12 and far below the roughly 125 large commercial vessels that passed through on a typical prewar day. Five of Tuesday’s tracked vessels were inbound and one outbound; ships operating with their tracking transponders disabled would not appear in those figures.

The chokepoint’s importance magnifies every attack. Before the war, Hormuz carried roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply. The [EIA](https://www.eia.gov/international/analysis/special-topics/world%5Foil%5Ftransit%5FChokepoints?ref=theamericanquorum.com) has long classified it as one of the world’s most important oil transit routes because Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates all depend on it to varying degrees. Pipelines through Saudi Arabia and the UAE can bypass the strait, but their capacity cannot replace all seaborne flows.

The disruption also reaches beyond cargo that never sails. Shipowners must decide whether a voyage is insurable, whether crews can be protected and whether a rerouted cargo can arrive in time. Emirates National Oil Company director Paul Bradshaw said cargo insurance can now reach 5% to 6% of a shipment’s value, while additional war-risk premiums can reach 10%. Total transit costs have climbed into a range of $10 million to $20 million, he told [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/oil-vessel-transit-costs-through-hormuz-escalated-after-iran-war-enoc-exec-says-2026-09-09/?ref=theamericanquorum.com). Some market participants are going without insurance, he said, while national oil companies increasingly control their own shipping.

## Oil prices transmit the shock to households

The passage from naval escalation to consumer prices is direct. Fewer safe transits reduce available crude and refined products; higher insurance and freight charges raise the delivered cost of what still moves; and longer routes tie up tankers that would otherwise carry additional cargoes. Those constraints are reflected first in futures and physical markets, then in refinery costs, fuel distribution and prices paid by households and businesses.

Brent traded at $100.72 early Wednesday, while the U.S. benchmark reached $95.25, the [AP reported](https://apnews.com/article/7538e6386a819bcdc2547d530ec3472e?ref=theamericanquorum.com). The national average for regular gasoline rose seven cents overnight to $4.22 a gallon, more than $1 above the year-earlier level, and diesel reached $5.94\. Diesel carries an especially broad economic effect because it powers trucking, farm equipment and industrial operations; higher jet-fuel costs are also forcing airlines to cut flights and raise fares and fees.

Financial markets reacted to the inflation risk as well as the military escalation. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% around midday Wednesday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 400 points, while major oil producers gained, according to [market reporting](https://apnews.com/article/d1284eb72934a3b076c14449bc087fbd?ref=theamericanquorum.com). The market response does not prove that one day’s attacks will produce sustained inflation. It does show that investors see the renewed shipping disruption as capable of affecting interest-rate decisions, corporate costs and household spending if it persists.

## Emergency buffers have already been used

Global supply systems entered this latest escalation with less room for error than headline production numbers might suggest. The International Energy Agency said flows through Hormuz fell from about 20 million barrels a day before the conflict to an average of 2.7 million barrels a day during March, April and May. Its June [analysis](https://www.iea.org/commentaries/how-global-oil-supplies-have-readjusted-to-help-fill-the-huge-gap-left-by-the-strait-of-hormuz-shock?ref=theamericanquorum.com) estimated cumulative Middle Eastern supply losses above 1.3 billion barrels and described the disruption as the largest in history.

Stocks, alternative routes and additional exports from producers outside the Gulf helped prevent a still larger shortage. IEA members authorized a 400 million-barrel emergency release, and global inventories were being drawn down at an average rate of 3.8 million barrels a day during the crisis. Saudi Arabia increased shipments through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, the UAE used its pipeline to Fujairah, and U.S. petroleum exports reached a record level in May. Those adjustments buy time, but they are not equivalent to reopening the strait to regular traffic.

Commercial operators also face a sanctions dilemma. An August [OFAC alert](https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/936751/download?inline=&ref=theamericanquorum.com) warned U.S. and non-U.S. firms against paying Iranian tolls, purchasing sanctioned insurance or providing information in exchange for safe passage. That means a shipowner cannot treat a payment demand as an ordinary cost of doing business without risking U.S. penalties. Military threats, insurance exclusions and sanctions exposure therefore reinforce one another, narrowing the set of operators willing and legally able to transit.

## What remains unverified and what comes next

The confirmed record is consequential but incomplete. The United States has acknowledged destroying five tankers and says their crews were warned. Iran has acknowledged a broad retaliatory operation, but its claims that U.S. ships were struck are disputed, and independent damage assessments for several commercial vessels have not been made public. The death of one mariner and disappearance of another establish that the shipping crisis is producing human costs, but responsibility for each incident still requires vessel-level verification.

The next decisive indicators will be operational rather than rhetorical: whether Kpler and other trackers record a sustained recovery or further decline in transits; whether Iran publishes and enforces its threatened expanded exclusion zone; whether U.S. forces conduct more tanker strikes; and whether insurers continue quoting war-risk premiums that make ordinary voyages uneconomic. A temporary rise above $100 can reverse quickly if shipping resumes, but repeated attacks near the world’s principal energy chokepoint make that resumption harder to price and harder to insure.

Tuesday’s five-tanker strike and Wednesday’s reported Iranian response have changed the scale of the maritime confrontation. They do not establish that Hormuz will close completely or that every Iranian claim is accurate. They do establish that commercial shipping is now a central battlefield, that traffic remains drastically depressed and that the renewed escalation is already reaching U.S. consumers and financial markets through oil, fuel and inflation expectations.