The Persian Gulf lurched into a new crisis tonight as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed a “decisive revenge strike” on a US‑linked oil tanker in the northern Gulf, just hours after a suspected US submarine attack sank an Iranian warship.

Maritime trackers registered a sudden course deviation and loss of speed from the tanker before a mayday crackled over open channels: “Impact on starboard… fire spreading… we are losing control.” Minutes later, satellite imagery showed a dense plume of black smoke curling above the vessel, drifting perilously close to Iranian waters.

On state TV, an IRGC naval commander boasted that a coastal missile unit had “hit the fuel lifeline of American aggression,” warning that any ship supplying US forces was now a “legitimate target.” Grainy video aired in Tehran appears to show a missile launching from a hidden shoreline site, followed by a distant flash on the horizon.

US Central Command confirms an attack on a “commercial tanker with American interests,” citing injuries and significant damage but insisting the ship remains afloat and under tow. Washington denounced the strike as “escalatory economic terrorism,” vowing to keep sea lanes open “by force if necessary.”

With one Iranian warship on the seabed, a US‑linked tanker burning, and rival navies surging into the world’s most critical oil corridor, analysts warn the confrontation has entered a dangerous tit‑for‑tat phase—where each “revenge” blow risks tipping the Gulf from contained conflict into a full‑scale energy and security meltdown.