U.S. Central Command has released a video that appears to document the sinking of an Iranian oil tanker in the Sea of Oman, according to a Middle East-focused Telegram outlet. The footage has not been independently verified.
The U.S. Central Command has released footage purportedly documenting the sinking of an Iranian oil tanker in the Sea of Oman, according to the Telegram outlet 301 Arab World citing Mordechai K. The video shows a vessel going under, though no independent confirmation of the sinking or the circumstances surrounding it has been reported.
The footage appears to be the first visual documentation of a tanker sinking in the ongoing American maritime campaign against Iranian oil shipments. On Saturday, Sep 5, CENTCOM confirmed that its forces destroyed three Iranian oil tankers—M/T Downy, M/T Stark 1, and M/T Kylo—in retaliation for an IRGC ballistic missile attack on two U.S. Navy warships. The tanker M/T Kylo was sunk in the Gulf of Oman after its crew was evacuated, while the two other tankers were disabled near Kharg Island and Jask, according to CENTCOM. CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper warned that the U.S. would destroy Iran's exposed oil fleet if attacks continued.
The Zioneer has previously reported on U.S. maritime interdiction operations against Iranian crude exports. In June, CENTCOM disabled the oil tanker M/T Settebello in the Gulf of Oman for attempting to bypass the naval blockade. In July, footage circulated of an Iranian oil tanker being seized, with crew members reportedly detained.
It remains unclear whether the newly released footage shows the sinking of the M/T Kylo or a separate incident. The footage has not been independently verified, and no details on the identity of the tanker or casualties have been confirmed.
13 developments
Source and signal
- Open-source intake