What happened

Iran's IRGC Navy said it struck the Togo-flagged oil tanker TREND in the Strait of Hormuz on the evening of 17 September, describing the vessel as attempting an "illegal passage" and alleging it had been "deceived and provoked" by U.S. forces. The IRGC said the tanker caught fire and came to a halt after the strike. UKMTO Warning 138-26, issued on 18 September, separately records an unidentified tanker hit by an unknown projectile with an onboard fire later extinguished. The timing and fire make that warning a possible match, but UKMTO did not name TREND and no reviewed operator, insurer, CENTCOM or vessel-tracking source connected the warning to the IRGC's named vessel. This record therefore remains an attributed IRGC claim, while Warning 138-26 is tracked separately as a verified report involving an unidentified tanker. The available evidence does not establish that the two accounts describe the same ship or event.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.