American forces permanently disabled the M/T Downy and M/T Stark 1 and completely destroyed the M/T Kylo, also known as Noxen, near Iranian waters on September 5, 2026. The strikes followed missile attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on two US Navy warships. The Joint Maritime Information Center, which has tracked maritime threats in the region since early 2026, described the operation as the latest enforcement action under a US naval blockade of Iran that began on April 13, 2026. The M/T Downy was disabled off Kharg Island, Iran’s largest oil export terminal, while the M/T Stark 1 was disabled near Jask, close to the mouth of the Gulf of Oman. The M/T Kylo was sailing without cargo and was destroyed after its crew was directed to abandon ship. Crews on all three vessels received warnings before the strikes, and CENTCOM confirmed that no tanker personnel were killed or injured. US Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper characterized the action as economic retaliation, indicating that attacks on US military vessels would bring commercial consequences for Iran. The targeted vessels were identified as part of Iran’s shadow fleet (sanctions-evasion tanker network), which moves Iranian crude outside formal shipping channels. The simultaneous actions near Kharg Island and Jask covered Iran’s primary oil-export geography, according to the source’s framing.