Iranian oil tanker targeted in US missile attack near Kharg Island

Tehran: An Iranian oil tanker was targeted in a US missile attack about 10 km off Iran’s southern Kharg Island on Saturday morning, country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Citing local sources, the report said that four projectiles fired by US forces struck the tanker though the attack caused no casualties and the crew members were evacuating the vessel.

Earlier in the day, Iranian media reported explosions near Kharg Island.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Friday that the US military may soon strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain — a fortified site near Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility — while trying to downplay the 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.

Meanwhile, Trump tried to downplay the conflict with Iran, arguing that it was not a war. “It’s a military conflict, but it’s very intermittent,” Trump said, though he has repeatedly described the conflict as a “war” while avoiding the term at times.

“I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us. It’s not a big thing,” Trump claimed.

“I would say that it’s intermittent. You know, we do intermittent strikes,” Trump said. “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 is now a central Israeli objective and “within reach,” as regional tensions 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 said Iran’s leadership was “weaker than ever” and “fighting for its life,” warning Israel’s enemies: “Don’t mess with us.”

IANS