An Iranian tanker was hit by U.S. forces on Saturday near Iran's key oil export hub, Kharg Island, in the Gulf, the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim reported.
Iran’s top joint military command warned that strikes on U.S. military vessels in the region could intensify if Washington continues what it described as a naval “siege” of Iran, state media reported.
The command said the scope of its strikes could expand if the United States continued to “harass” Iranian ships, signalling a potential escalation in hostilities at sea.
Ten people were killed and six injured when a fuel tanker exploded following a traffic accident on the Hamedan-Sanandaj Highway in western Iran, state media reported on Saturday.
Sanandaj Governor Arshad Zandi said the tanker crashed because of a technical fault in its braking system. The resulting fire has since been contained, he added.
The U.S. Embassy in Bahrain has issued a security alert urging American citizens in Bahrain and across the region to “exercise heightened vigilance” amid rising tensions. The embassy said Iran had previously targeted civilian infrastructure in Bahrain, including hotels in Manama.
It also warned U.S. citizens to prepare for possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and other travel disruptions.
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military has the capability to target Iran’s entire fleet of oil tankers, following recent U.S. strikes on three Iranian carriers.
“It’s simple: if Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is not shoot” at the U.S. Navy, Hegseth said in a post on X.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers on Saturday, claiming all three were “destroyed”. One carrier was struck near Kharg Island, another near Jask and a third in the Gulf of Oman.
The statement came after Iranian media reported earlier that an Iranian oil tanker had been hit by U.S. missiles off Kharg Island.
CENTCOM said the strikes followed an attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which it said had fired ballistic missiles towards two US warships “patrolling regional waters”.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost – taking out three of yours,” CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper said.
“I can tell you categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace people out of Gaza against their will,” U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee told reporters on Saturday, when visiting West Bank.
His remarks came a day after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel was prepared to facilitate the departure of Palestinians from Gaza by sea and land and was waiting to discuss with the United States where they could be relocated.
“There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration,” Katz said, adding that 80% of Gaza’s population wanted to leave but that Hamas was preventing them.
GasBuddy data forecasts the national average will reach $4.03 per gallon on Labor Day, exceeding the previous record of $3.83 set in 2012.
Labor Day, observed on Monday, is a federal holiday that commemorates the U.S. labour movement and typically sees increased travel across the country.
The national average stood at around $4.13 per gallon on Thursday, nearly $1 higher than the average recorded a year earlier, according to GasBuddy.
Analysts told Reuters that $4 per gallon represents a significant “pain point” for U.S. consumers.
Vessels were seen on the Strait of Hormuz from Iran’s Bandar Abbas on Saturday as fighting between Iran and the United States reignited this week after a month-long lull, leading to a military stalemate in the region.
A U.S. missile struck an Iranian oil tanker near Iran's Kharg Island on Saturday, according to Iranian media. It said no casualties were reported.
Kharg Island is vital to Iran’s oil export system, handling roughly 90 per cent to 95 per cent of the country’s crude exports. U.S. President Donald Trump had previously threatened to take control of the island.
TankerTrackers, a maritime tracking service, said it identified at least 17 crude oil and gas ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman on Friday.
The service estimated that the transfers involved at least 24 million barrels of crude, describing it as a “busy day.”
It also reported that around 7.25 million barrels of crude, along with two additional LNG tankers, were preparing to transit the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman under the protection of U.S. Central Command.
Qatar said that official records it submitted to the UN show Iranian missiles struck civilian, commercial and residential areas in the country, rejecting Tehran’s attempt to cite a Qatari document as evidence that its attacks were limited to U.S. military facilities.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari made the remarks in a statement responding to a post on X by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.
Baghaei cited a Qatar-prepared safety and security assessment for the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, saying it confirmed Iranian strikes targeted only U.S. military facilities in Qatar.
He said the strikes did not target civilian areas, except gas facilities in Ras Laffan, which he alleged were being used in U.S. military operations against Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that the United States may hit Iran's Pickaxe Mountain very soon.
Pickaxe Mountain, located near Iran's heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, is a heavily fortified site that hosts two deeply buried tunnel complexes.
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