Iran says it fired on three US destroyers after they targeted an oil tanker, but America’s version of events is completely different

Explosions were reported near Iranian ports on May 7, with blasts heard at Qeshm Island and Bandar Abbas, as the two countries gave sharply conflicting accounts of what triggered them. As detailed by Al Jazeera, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Iranian forces opened fire on three US Navy destroyers after the US military attempted to attack an Iranian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The destroyers reportedly fled toward the Gulf of Oman following the exchange.

The US Central Command declined to comment when contacted by Al Jazeera, and the Pentagon did not immediately respond. The source of the explosions at the two Iranian ports remained unclear. Neither side has provided an agreed-upon account of what occurred in the strait.

The incident unfolded against a backdrop of advanced ceasefire negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump had ordered an operation to break Iran’s blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, a move that had already pushed those talks to the brink. On Monday, the US said it shot down seven small Iranian drones, and Iran renewed drone and missile attacks against the UAE.

The two sides are telling completely different stories

The Strait of Hormuz has been largely blocked by Iran since late February 2026, when the United States and Israel launched an air campaign against Iran and its leadership. In retaliation, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard closed the waterway to hostile shipping, boarded merchant vessels, and laid sea mines.

The US began its own naval blockade of Iranian ports in mid-April, creating what observers described as a dual blockade. Amid Trump’s intensifying warnings to Iran over the strait, the strait’s closure has become the largest disruption to global energy supply since the 1970s, with Brent crude hitting $126 per barrel at its peak.

Conflicting accounts of naval encounters in the strait are not new. Just two days prior, a US admiral confirmed Iranian attacks on US Navy ships involving drones, cruise missiles, and small boats, with the US military destroying six Iranian small boats in response. That episode similarly occurred without a formal ceasefire being called off, underscoring how volatile the waterway remains even during negotiations.

The strait is 34 kilometers wide at its narrowest point and carries roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil trade. About 20,000 mariners and 2,000 ships have been stranded in the Persian Gulf since Iran’s closure began.