The US-Iranian escalation entered a more severe maritime phase, with the sinking of an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman and an exchange of attacks that affected tankers and ships linked to both sides, in a round that brought the military confrontation back to the forefront after a month of relative calm.

On Sunday, the US Central Command, Centcom, announced the sinking of the M/T Kilo oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, after it was targeted as part of an American attack that targeted three tankers linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, while Tehran announced a response by targeting three tankers and three ships linked to the United States.

Centcom said on the “X” platform that the tanker “M/T Kilo” settled at the bottom of the Gulf of Oman, after American forces targeted it in several vital locations and took it completely out of service, after issuing orders to its crew to evacuate it.

The escalation came after the Central Command accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guard of launching ballistic missiles towards two American warships that were patrolling the waters of the region.

Centcom said that the Iranian attacks failed, before US forces permanently disabled the “Downy” oil tanker off Khark Island and the “Stark 1” tanker near Jask, in addition to destroying the empty tanker “Kilo” in the Gulf of Oman.

The Central Command published a video clip that showed tongues of fire and flameballs rising from ships after they were hit by projectiles.

Centcom described the three carriers as part of a “billion-dollar shadow network that funds the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its agents in the region,” stressing that no American soldier was injured, after an aircraft carrier and a destroyer equipped with guided missiles managed to avoid Iranian attacks.

Commander of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, said: “If you fire on two of our ships, we will incur a greater economic cost to you, by destroying three of your ships.”

Cooper stressed that American forces “will not hesitate” to defend themselves and destroy what he described as the limited and exposed Iranian oil fleet if necessary.

The exchange of blows comes at a time when Washington is tightening its economic pressure on Tehran and the faltering diplomatic track.