The warning came across the radio with terrifying clarity: the crew had three minutes to abandon its ship.

Moments later, missiles tore into the Iranian tanker, engulfing the massive vessel in flames and sending thick black smoke rising above the sea.

The attack was part of a series of U.S. military strikes that destroyed three Iranian crude-oil tankers Saturday near Kharg Island and in the Gulf of Oman, according to U.S. Central Command.

Washington said the tankers were connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and formed part of a multibillion-dollar network financing the IRGC and its regional allies.

CENTCOM described the operation as retaliation after Iranian forces launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy warships patrolling regional waters.

Iran responded with new claims of attacks against American-linked vessels—and a warning that even more severe military action could follow.

The exchange marked another dangerous escalation in a conflict already threatening global shipping routes and energy supplies.

Crew Told to Abandon Ship

Footage obtained by Iran International reportedly captured the final minutes before one tanker was struck near Kharg Island.

A U.S. military aircraft crew can be heard warning the vessel that an attack is imminent.

“I’m preparing to fire,” a voice says. “You have three minutes to clear the crew.”

Onboard conversations could reportedly be heard in Persian and Urdu as crew members attempted to determine whether the captain was at his post. According to the account accompanying the video, they discovered that he was still asleep.

The American warning then became more urgent.

“This was your final warning,” the voice said. “Get into your lifeboats and abandon the ship immediately.”

The supplied report did not confirm whether every crew member escaped before the missiles hit or whether the strikes caused casualties.

Video subsequently showed a tanker consumed by fire as a towering column of smoke spread across the sky.

Three Tankers Targeted

CENTCOM said two of the vessels were struck in the Gulf of Oman. The third was anchored near Kharg Island, Iran’s strategically vital oil-export hub.

Before the current conflict, approximately 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports reportedly passed through facilities associated with the island.

That makes any attack in the area especially consequential.

The United States has previously targeted military facilities on Kharg Island while avoiding much of its oil infrastructure. Expanding attacks to tankers operating near the hub increases the risk of damage to Iran’s energy-export capacity and further retaliation by Tehran.

One of the targeted tankers had been under U.S. sanctions since 2018, according to the report.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of CENTCOM, framed the strikes as a direct warning to the IRGC.

“If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost—taking out three of yours,” he said.

Iran Threatens Wider Retaliation

The IRGC Navy later claimed that it had struck three U.S.-linked vessels, in addition to attacking three oil tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.

Those Iranian claims were not independently verified in the supplied reporting.

Military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that attacks would intensify if the United States continued what Tehran describes as harassment of Iranian vessels and a naval blockade.

“If the hostility, insecurity and harassment of Iranian ships and the naval blockade of Iran continue, the strikes by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic against U.S. military vessels in the region will be more severe than before,” he said, according to Iranian state media.

Zolfaghari also warned that the scope of the fighting could expand.

The IRGC separately cautioned vessels against entering waterways it considers unauthorized, threatening that suspicious movements could result in ships being targeted.

Such declarations add to fears surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage for global oil shipments. Continued attacks in or near the waterway could disrupt commercial traffic and intensify pressure on international energy markets.

Washington Delivers Stark Message

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth offered an uncompromising explanation for the tanker strikes.

“If Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy—and sink—their oil tankers,” he wrote on X. “All they have to do is not shoot at U.S. Navy.”

Iranian media had reported earlier Saturday that four missiles struck a tanker anchored approximately six miles from Kharg Island.

Trump had also recently posted that the island was being “blown to smithereens,” pairing the claim with an AI-generated image depicting storage tanks and refineries erupting in flames.

Iran has repeatedly promised a forceful response if its critical oil infrastructure is attacked.

The weekend strikes therefore went beyond the destruction of three vessels. They delivered an economic threat aimed at the heart of Iran’s ability to finance itself—and demonstrated how rapidly retaliation can move from military ships to the energy lifelines of an entire country.

For the tanker crew receiving that radio transmission, the wider geopolitical stakes were compressed into one terrifying command.

Three minutes to leave the ship.

Then the missiles came.