Iranian ballistic missiles targeted a U.S. aircraft carrier, destroyers and a Marine vessel as Washington escalates retaliation against Tehran’s oil fleet.
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON/MIDDLE EAST (Worthy News) – Iran launched a previously undisclosed second wave of ballistic missile attacks against U.S. Navy vessels in the Middle East, targeting an American aircraft carrier, destroyers and at least one Marine ship as the confrontation between Washington and Tehran sharply escalates.
The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials familiar with the attacks, reported Wednesday that Iran had fired ballistic missiles at the American vessels since Friday. While none of the attacks succeeded, U.S. officials described some of them as dangerously close calls.
The disclosure reveals that Tehran’s recent attacks on American naval forces were substantially broader than initially made public and comes amid growing concern over the sophistication of Iran’s surviving missile arsenal.
U.S. Hits Iran’s Oil Lifeline
U.S. Central Command confirmed that American forces destroyed five Iranian crude carriers on September 8 after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a U.S. Navy warship twice with ballistic missiles over the previous two days.
CENTCOM said the American vessel successfully evaded the attacks, continued its patrol and suffered no casualties.
The five vessels destroyed were the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, along with the M/T Derya near Iran’s strategically important Kharg Island oil terminal. American forces ordered the crews to abandon the vessels before striking them, according to CENTCOM.
The U.S. military says the ships were part of a multibillion-dollar Iranian shadow-oil network used to finance the IRGC and its regional proxies.
The latest strikes followed an earlier confrontation on September 5, when CENTCOM destroyed three Iranian crude carriers after the IRGC attempted to strike a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer.
Tehran Escalates Again
Iran has responded with still more attacks. The IRGC claimed Wednesday that it targeted two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, although U.S. authorities reported no damage to American warships.
Iran also fired 20 ballistic missiles toward a base used by U.S. forces in Jordan. Jordanian authorities said air defenses intercepted 18 missiles, while the remaining two fell in unpopulated areas. U.S. officials said all American personnel were accounted for.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington has adopted a straightforward response to Tehran’s continued attempts to attack American naval forces: each new Iranian attempt to strike U.S. ships will cost Iran additional oil tankers.
The increasingly direct exchange marks another dangerous phase in the six-month U.S.-Iran war. Fighting that once centered primarily on military installations has increasingly moved into the shipping lanes and energy infrastructure surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil corridors.
The economic consequences are already spreading beyond the battlefield. Brent crude climbed above $100 per barrel Wednesday, while commercial traffic through Hormuz has again fallen sharply amid renewed missile, drone and maritime attacks.
For Tehran, the danger is becoming increasingly economic as well as military. Iran can continue firing missiles toward American forces, but Washington is demonstrating that every attack may carry a mounting price against the oil network that helps sustain the Islamic Republic and its Revolutionary Guard.
A Biblical Battle Over Persia?
For Christians watching events unfold in Iran, the conflict carries a dimension that reaches beyond missiles, warships, and oil. In Daniel 10, Scripture pulls back the curtain on a spiritual battle over ancient Persia, where an angelic messenger tells Daniel that “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” resisted him for 21 days until Michael came to assist. The passage offers one of the clearest biblical pictures of unseen spiritual conflict operating alongside earthly events, reminding believers that the struggle surrounding Persia has never been merely political or military.
Yet the battle is not ultimately against the Iranian people. Millions live under a revolutionary Islamic system marked by repression and religious control, and Scripture calls believers to see beyond the regime to the deeper struggle for souls. That perspective also brings us to Jeremiah 49:34-39, where the prophet speaks concerning Elam, an ancient kingdom located largely in what is now southwestern Iran. God declares judgment upon Elam, saying He will break its bow and scatter its people, but the prophecy does not end there. It closes with an extraordinary promise: “In the latter days I will bring back the captives of Elam.”
That is why judgment may not be the final word over Persia—restoration may be. From Cyrus allowing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem, to the spiritual warfare revealed in Daniel, to Jeremiah’s promise concerning Elam, Persia has long stood at the center of biblical history. Today, as missiles fly and nations maneuver, believers should remember that history is more than the movement of armies. Kingdoms rise and fall, rulers come and go, and spiritual battles rage, but God’s purposes continue advancing. The story now unfolding in Iran may ultimately become not only a story of conflict and shaking, but one of restoration and harvest.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
