Karma rarely arrives with a smooth, lubricated shape.

Control of the Strait of Hormuz has been an ongoing tug-of-war in the Iran war, or whatever we're calling it. If Iran can control the Strait of Hormuz, it will eke out a significant strategic victory by restricting oil supplies and forcing the U.S. to make concessions. On the other hand, if it can't control Hormuz, then no one in the world cares if the U.S. curbstomps the terrorist regime because even their "friends" are only using them to discomfit the Trump administration. In short, control is the Clausewitzian center of gravity in this war.

Bereft of a navy, Iran's only solution has been to attack neutral shipping. This has had some effect as ship owners and insurance companies are unwilling to risk millions of dollars in company assets and cargo to run a gauntlet of missile and drone attacks.

The 320,780 dwt Senegal Prosperity, controlled by South Korea’s Sinokor Maritime, was struck by three projectiles while completing an outbound transit on the evening of August 31, minutes after the Saudi-owned VLCC Sidr was also attacked.

The Liberian-flagged Senegal Prosperity was hit on its port side, engine room and ballast tank. Communications were subsequently lost, the vessel went dead in the water and developed a list to port.

Local authorities evacuated the crew, leaving the ship anchored close to the Omani coast.

No pollution has been reported, but the casualty raises the environmental stakes dramatically. Senegal Prosperity had loaded in Saudi Arabia.

The two near-simultaneous attacks followed a string of strikes against tankers using the southern Hormuz route.

The aframax Metro Venetian was hit on August 24, suffering an engine-room fire and becoming disabled. Al Salam II was struck the following day, while another unidentified tanker was hit near Khasab on August 29.

Iran has repeatedly demonstrated that ships close to the Omani coast remain within reach despite Washington’s efforts to establish a safer southern passage.

After a long wait, the U.S. tried something different. When U.S. armed forces launched a round of retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets Tuesday, included on the target list were two tankers belonging to the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company. Both are ostensibly privately owned, but sane people don't fall for that story. The company is sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and it owns in the neighborhood of 40 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs). The number varies by date because tanker ownership changes.

The U.S. announced that in the future, the U.S. would observe a "tanker-for-tanker" policy under which any attack on a neutral ship would result in the immobilization of an equal number of Iranian tankers; see Iran's Attacks Fail, US Hits Back With New 'Tanker-for-Tanker' Policy – RedState.

Recommended
A 'Mole' in The El-Sayed Campaign? Compromising New Photo Has People Wondering Kyle Becker 'Passenger From Hell' Duct-Taped to Seat on AA Flight After He Does the Unthinkable Kyle Becker

Tuesday's casualties were the empty NITC vessels M/T Hawk, a VLCC, and M/T Sinopa, a Suezmax tanker.

Saturday, U.S. Central Command expanded the policy. 

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers, Sept. 5, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles toward two U.S. Navy warships patrolling regional waters. 

A U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks. No American personnel were harmed. 

Following Iran’s failed attacks, CENTCOM permanently disabled the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Downy off the coast of Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask. American forces also completely destroyed the unladen crude oil carrier M/T Kylo (also known as the “Noxen”) in the Gulf of Oman, striking the vessel in multiple critical locations to render it inoperable after the crew was directed to abandon ship.

The M/T Downy is a VLCC; the Stark 1 and Kylo are Suezmax-class. You can see hits on all three ships in this video.

The Downy is hit at 0:00 and the Stark 1 at 0:07. They both get a single missile, probably a Hellfire, in the engine room area. The Kylo is absolutely shot to rags starting at 0:12. She takes at least four bomb strikes and one missile strike. I think the Kylo was picked for destruction because it has a long history as a part of the Russo-Iranian dark/shadow fleet.

CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper issued this warning to Iran.

“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours. We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

At long last, after a quarter century of nearly continuous combat operations in this theater, the U.S. seems to have stumbled upon the key to winning.

Between Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent's attack on the total spectrum of Iranian financial enablers (see New: Big Names in 'Operation Economic Outcast' Against Iran, Huge Reward for Info on Two Key Leaders – RedState) and Admiral Cooper declaring that if you even think about shooting at one of our ships, we will knock out a greater number of yours.

The next step is the activation of prize courts (see DOJ Moves to Confiscate Iran Oil As Legal War Prize – RedState) and bagging the majority of NITC tankers and selling them to fund non-stop debauchery in Thailand for the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who have been endangered and merely inconvenienced by Iran's actions.

Those tankers are not hard to find.

UPDATE: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth released a statement: