CENTCOM Says U.S. Disabled Tanker With Hellfire Missiles

U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces disabled a Curacao-flagged oil tanker heading toward Iran’s Kharg Island after an American aircraft fired Hellfire missiles into its smokestack Wednesday.

CENTCOM identified the unladen merchant vessel as the M/T Belma. According to CENTCOM, repeated warnings went unheeded before a U.S. aircraft struck the tanker.

The Daily Mail reported that the action came during a fifth night of U.S. attacks around the Strait of Hormuz following the reinstatement of a naval blockade on Iranian ports.

The U.S. says it imposed the blockade to reopen the waterway after Iran closed it following the collapse of a fragile truce.

Wider Operations Under Review

The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump discussed using U.S. troops to seize Kharg Island and other territory along the strait during a Situation Room meeting Tuesday evening.

Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attended the meeting, according to the Journal. The Journal said officials also discussed bombing a tunnel complex at Pickaxe Mountain.

Three U.S. officials told Reuters that strikes intended to force open the strait are targeting Iranian military capabilities the United States might seek to destroy before more complex operations.

Trump threatened Tuesday to strike Iranian power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran resumes negotiations.

Iran Issues Warnings and Claims Regional Attacks

After the first strikes Wednesday night, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf issued a stark warning.

“We are in an essential and existential war with America.” — Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf

Iranian army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia called the Strait of Hormuz a “red line” and said Iran retained firm control of the waterway.

Akraminia said the United States wrongly believed attacks on Iran’s southern coastal bases would allow it to control the strait. He said Iran did not need to rely on its coasts and islands to control the strait.

Iran’s army said reopening the strait would require U.S. compliance with a 14-point memorandum signed in June and adherence to Iranian shipping regulations.

Akraminia said Iran would strike “all remaining infrastructure” across the region if Trump carried out his threat against Iranian power plants and bridges. He said Iran’s response would be wider and more destructive than its previous attacks.

Iran said it targeted U.S. bases in Kuwait and Jordan. Iran’s army said it fired ballistic missiles at Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed they destroyed a satellite communications center, an early-warning radar at Ali Al Salem Air Base and a U.S. military pier in Kuwait’s Al Shuaiba area. Those claims were not independently confirmed in the source material.

Kuwait said it was responding to hostile drone threats. Bahrain’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed some Iranian aerial attacks targeting the kingdom.