US missiles strike Iranian oil tanker near Kharg Island, no casualties
Tehran: An Iranian oil tanker was targeted in a US missile attack about 10 km off Iran’s southern Kharg Island on Saturday morning, the country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Citing local sources, the report said four projectiles fired by US forces struck the tanker. The attack caused no casualties, while crew members were evacuating the vessel.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian media reported explosions near Kharg Island.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US military could soon strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified site near the country’s Natanz enrichment facility, while seeking to downplay the ongoing conflict with Iran as “small potatoes”.
“We may hit Pickaxe very soon,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to the underground facility where Washington says Iran has moved some of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Trump also sought to downplay the conflict with Iran, saying it was not a war.
“It’s a military conflict, but it’s very intermittent,” Trump said, although he has repeatedly referred to the conflict as a “war” while at times avoiding the term.
“I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us. It’s not a big thing,” Trump said.
“I would say that it’s intermittent. You know, we do intermittent strikes,” he added. “There’s a lot of truth that we’re not fighting right now. There’s no fighting.”
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that toppling Iran’s government had become a central Israeli objective and was “within reach”, as regional tensions continue to escalate.
“I am convinced of our ability to remove this threat once and for all. That means toppling this regime,” Netanyahu told Israel’s military general staff at a Jewish New Year event in Tel Aviv.
“This is the central mission still ahead of us, but it is close. It is not impossible. It is within reach,” he added.
Netanyahu said Iran’s leadership was “weaker than ever” and “fighting for its life”, while warning Israel’s enemies: “Don’t mess with us.”
With IANS inputs