US fires on and disables 2 more Iranian tankers as tensions rise in the
Strait of Hormuz
[May 09, 2026]
By ADAM SCHRECK, BEN FINLEY and MICHAEL BIESECKER
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. forces fired on and disabled two
Iranian oil tankers on Friday after exchanging fire with Iranian forces
in the Strait of Hormuz overnight. The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile,
reported another Iranian missile and drone attack.
The attacks cast more doubt on a tenuous month-old ceasefire that the
United States has insisted is still in effect. Washington is awaiting an
Iranian response to its latest proposal for a deal to end the war,
reopen the strait and roll back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he hopes to receive “a serious
offer” from Iran later Friday.
The U.S. military said Friday that its forces had disabled two Iranian
tankers that were trying to breach an American blockade of Iran’s ports.
Hours earlier, the military said it thwarted attacks on three Navy ships
and struck Iranian military facilities in the strait.
Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since
the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, causing a global spike
in fuel prices and rattling world markets. The U.S. has imposed its own
blockade of Iran's ports.
The UAE’s Defense Ministry meanwhile said three people were wounded
after air defenses engaged two ballistic missiles and three drones
launched by Iran. It was not clear if all were successfully intercepted.
US says it responded to an attack in the strait
The U.S. military posted video of the two Iranian tankers as their
smokestacks were struck by an American fighter jet on Friday. Earlier in
the week, an American military jet shot out the rudder of a tanker the
U.S. military said was attempting to breach its blockade.
Late Thursday, the U.S. military said it thwarted Iranian attacks on
three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and struck Iranian military
facilities in response. It said no American ships were hit.
“They threaten Americans, they are going to be blown up,” Rubio told
reporters Friday.
Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned what it called “hostile” U.S. military
action, saying it violated the ceasefire. “Every time a diplomatic
solution is on the table, the U.S. opts for a reckless military
adventure,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X.
A U.S. strike overnight killed at least one sailor and injured 10 others
aboard a cargo vessel that caught fire, a news agency affiliated with
Iran's judiciary reported. It was not clear if the ship was one of the
two tankers the U.S. acknowledged striking.
U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted the ceasefire is holding. He
also has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn’t
accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear
program.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country has been in
contact with the U.S. and Iran “day and night” in an effort to extend
the ceasefire and reach a peace deal.
Images show apparent oil slick off Iranian terminal
Satellite images reviewed by The Associated Press show what appears to
be an oil slick in the Persian Gulf emanating from the western side of
Kharg Island, Iran’s main crude export terminal.
Images taken Friday show the slick covering about 71 square kilometers
(27 square miles) and appear to show oil still leaking from the
terminal, said Ami Daniel, CEO of maritime intelligence firm Windward
AI.
Daniel estimated that the equivalent of roughly 80,000 oil barrels has
spilled from Kharg Island since the slick was first detected by
satellite images Tuesday. It’s unknown whether the spill was caused by a
malfunction, an airstrike or something else.
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This satellite image provided by European Space Agency shows an
apparent oil spill in the Persian Gulf off the western side of Kharg
Island, Iran’s main crude oil export terminal, on Wednesday, May 6,
2026. ( European Space Agency via AP)
“This is the risk of fighting in an oil-rich area,” said Daniel,
adding that it’s unlikely any cleanup efforts will be launched in
Gulf waters that have become an active war zone.
He said the spill appears to be spreading southwest and within the
next two weeks could potentially reach the shores of the UAE, Qatar
or Saudi Arabia.
Nina Noelle, an international crisis operations expert with
Greenpeace Germany, said Friday that preliminary assessment and
recent images show the spill beginning to disperse and it appears
unlikely that it will impact land. She said depending on wind, waves
and current conditions, parts of the slick could still possibly
affect some sensitive marine habitats.
“More likely, it will dissipate offshore under prevailing
conditions,” Noelle said.
The Pentagon declined to comment on whether the U.S. military was
tracking the spill or whether there had been recent strikes on the
Iranian island. Based on the imagery taken earlier this week, the
spill occurred before the most recent round of U.S. strikes.
Rubio says `unacceptable' for an Iranian agency to control strait
Rubio said Friday that it's “unacceptable” for Iran to have a
government agency that vets and taxes ships seeking passage through
the strait.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a shipping data company, reported
Thursday that Iran has created such an agency, known as the Persian
Gulf Strait Authority.
The Iranian effort to formalize control over the channel raised new
concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial
vessels bottled up in the Persian Gulf and unable to reach the open
sea.
“Is the world going to accept that Iran now controls an
international waterway?” Rubio said. “What is the world prepared to
do about it?”
Iran has effectively closed the strait, a vital waterway for the
shipment of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products, while
the U.S. is blockading Iranian ports.
A Chinese-crewed oil tanker was attacked near the strait. China has
continued to import oil from Iran despite the effective closure of
the waterway.
China's Foreign Ministry expressed concern, saying the tanker was
registered in the Marshall Islands with Chinese crew on board. There
were no casualties reported.
An oil tanker that passed through the Strait of Hormuz in mid-April
arrived off South Korea’s coast on Friday with 1 million barrels of
crude. South Korea, which last year imported more than 60% of its
crude through the strait, has capped prices of gasoline and other
petroleum products.
___
Finley and Biesecker reported from Washington. Associated Press
writers Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Giada Zampano and Nicole
Winfield in Rome, Seung Min Kim in Washington, Sarah El Deeb in
Beirut, and Simina Mistreanu in Bangkok contributed.
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