Iran Internationalideo obtained by Iran International, filmed aboard a nearby vessel, captures the US military’s radio warnings to the Iranian oil tanker STARK 1 before it was struck near Kharg Island.
Three warnings are audible over the VHF channel. In the first, a US military aircraft tells the tanker: “Motor Tanker STARK 1, this is the United States military aircraft. I am preparing to fire at your stern. You have 3 minutes to clear the crew from the stern of your ship. Over.”
The second cuts that to one minute. The third is final: “This was your final warning… get into your lifeboats and abandon the ship immediately.”
Between the warnings, crew members can be heard talking in Persian and Urdu. One asks whether the captain and his deputy are at their posts. He is told the captain is still asleep.
Iranian media reported on Saturday morning that a tanker had been hit by US forces six miles off Kharg Island, without naming the vessel. STARK 1 was carrying Iranian oil and was first sanctioned by Washington in 2018.
