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China · East Asia · and 12first snapshot
US strikes three Iranian tankers: one source, three versions of the damage
The shared account, repeated by nearly all: on 5 September 2026 US Central Command reported a strike on three Iranian oil tankers — off Kharg Island, near Jask and in the Gulf of Oman.
More about the event
The strike is presented as a response to the launch of ballistic missiles by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at a US aircraft carrier and a destroyer; according to CENTCOM, both ships evaded and no service members were hurt. The crew of the empty tanker in the Gulf of Oman was ordered to abandon the vessel before the hit (reported by NOS, Euronews, Folha de S.Paulo, G1, RT, NDTV and BBC Arabic). CENTCOM published video and a quotation from Admiral Brad Cooper: three vessels instead of two means a "higher economic price". Eleven of the fourteen reports carry the same quotation; Vedomosti does not.
First divergence — the fate of the M/T Kylo. RT puts "US missile strike sinks Iranian tanker (VIDEO)" in the headline and quotes CENTCOM: the vessel "joined the Iranian fleet at the bottom of the sea". Euronews, NDTV, the BBC and BBC Arabic write of destruction or disablement, without sinking. G1 and the BBC, citing IRIB, relay the Iranian version: "the vessel's cooling system put out the fire within an hour", with no casualties. According to RT, Tehran confirmed that three tankers were hit but did not confirm the loss of the Kylo.
Second divergence — what the vessels were. CENTCOM, and following it CNA, Euronews, Folha, G1, Hindustan Times, NDTV and BBC Arabic, describe them as "IRGC oil tankers", part of a "multibillion-dollar shadow network". Iran's ISNA quotes the foreign ministry: "America's act of aggression is an attack on Iranian commercial vessels". IRNA in English: Iran is "acting in self-defence in the face of a naval blockade and economic war". The BBC marks the category as a claim — CENTCOM "said" the tankers were part of a shadow network — and calls the ships "linked to Iran". NDTV gives the same formula in its editorial voice, without quotation marks and without attribution. None of the fourteen outlets provides the flag, registry or AIS data of the Downy, the Stark 1 or the Kylo.
Third divergence — whether the Iranian fire hit. In all the reports CENTCOM speaks of successful evasion and zero casualties. RT relays the IRGC version: "having sustained damage and fearing further retaliation, both warships were forced to leave the area of the engagement". G1 and the BBC note that Tehran did not immediately acknowledge the fact of the fire at the American ships at all.
Fourth divergence — traffic through Hormuz. Hindustan Times places side by side Treasury Secretary Bessent's statement of roughly 17 million barrels a day shipped recently and Kpler's count: six vessels on Wednesday, eleven on Tuesday, five on Monday, a ten-day average of thirteen vessels a day. The same report gives Brent at 96.28 dollars.
Fifth divergence — Iranian civilian casualties. Korea Times: "at least five people were killed earlier this week in a US bombardment of southern Iran". G1, citing the Iranian Red Crescent: missile fragments struck a wedding ceremony in a residential building in Sirik, four dead including two children, which Tehran calls a war crime; Vice President Vance, according to the same report, is "highly sceptical" and promises a review. Nine of the fourteen reports — CNA, NOS, Euronews, Folha, Vedomosti, RT, Hindustan Times, NDTV and the BBC — do not mention civilian casualties at all.
The main divergenceThe same vessel is "permanently disabled" at Euronews, "completely destroyed" at NDTV and "sunk" at RT, while ISNA and IRNA call the ships commercial vessels rather than IRGC assets.