CNA's account of Saturday's US-Iranian exchange adds two things this feed has not carried: CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper's own framing of the retaliation, and Iranian media detail on the strike off Kharg Island.

"If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost - taking out three of yours," Cooper said, after the IRGC launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy ships [1]. CENTCOM says no American personnel were harmed. It is the clearest statement yet of a tit-for-tat doctrine aimed at Iran's oil liftings rather than at its military assets, and it puts a named commander behind the threat Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made to sink Iranian tankers.

On the Iranian side, the semi-official Tasnim agency reported that four US missiles hit a tanker in the area of Kharg's anchorage, quoting local sources as saying there were no casualties and that the tanker's crew was being evacuated [1]. CENTCOM has said it "permanently disabled" M/T Downy off Kharg; Tasnim's account is the first detail on that vessel's condition, and it comes from Iranian state-linked media with no independent confirmation.

The remainder restates ground already covered here: the IRGC Navy's warning that vessels using "unauthorised waterways" will be targeted, its claim to have hit three tankers in the strait plus three US-linked vessels elsewhere, and its threat of intensified strikes on US naval vessels [1].

Two pieces of context are worth restating. CNA says the US blockade of Iranian ports began in mid-April, after Iran effectively shut the strait, and that Iran exported 90 per cent of its crude via Kharg before the war [1]. Separately, Trump on Aug 31 posted a one-line social media message with an AI-generated video depicting Kharg Island being "blown to smithereens"; Iranian authorities have vowed a strong response if the island is attacked [1]. Brent crude closed at US$96.28 on Friday, its highest since Jul 24 [1].