Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, relayed by Xinhua, reports that an Iranian oil tanker was struck by a US missile attack about 10 km off Kharg Island on the morning of 5 September. Tasnim says four projectiles fired by US forces hit the vessel, that the attack caused no casualties, and that crew members were evacuating. Iranian media had earlier reported explosions near Kharg Island the same day [1].

This is a reported claim, not a confirmed one. The vessel is not named, no damage assessment is given beyond the four impacts, and no US statement appears in the report — CENTCOM has not, in this material, acknowledged a 5 September strike. Xinhua attributes the account to Tasnim citing local sources, so it should be read as Tehran's version of events pending independent corroboration.

It matters for the corridor because of where it sits in the sequence. CENTCOM has already said it "permanently disabled" the IRGC crude carriers M/T Downy off Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask and "completely destroyed" the unladen M/T Kylo in the Gulf of Oman, framing the campaign as an economic cost imposed on Iranian shipping. A further strike in the same waters, if confirmed, would extend that pattern rather than open a new one.

Xinhua also restates the underlying posture: after the US-Israeli strikes on Iran of 28 February, Tehran restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz for vessels linked to the United States or Israel, while US forces imposed a naval blockade on traffic to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas [1].

The tests are unchanged: a CENTCOM statement or damage report naming this tanker, and any UKMTO or JMIC advisory change. Until then, treat it as a reported attack on an unnamed tanker near Iran's main oil export terminal.