The U.S. has denied a claim by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that its forces struck two American vessels.

The Guard had said it struck the ships, along with eight oil tankers in the Gulf, in retaliation against the U.S. for destroying five Iranian tankers on Tuesday. It said the targeted vessels had attempted to cross an area of the Hormuz Strait it had designated “forbidden and unsafe,” according to a statement published by semiofficial Tasnim News Agency.

But U.S. Central Command responded later on Wednesday, saying, “No U.S. Navy warship has been struck; all IRGC attempted attacks failed.”

“Meanwhile, U.S. forces have successfully destroyed 10 Iranian tankers in just the last week. These vessels were part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC, and Iran cannot defend them,” Centcom added on X.

Brent crude hits $100 a barrel

The conflict pushed Brent crude to $100 a barrel on Wednesday, as the two sides traded strikes along one of the world’s most critical oil corridors.

The U.S. strikes on Iranian crude oil tankers on Tuesday followed the Revolutionary Guard firing ballistic missiles at an American warship twice over the past two days, according to Centcom.

The U.S. warship successfully evaded Iranian attack, and no American personnel were harmed, Centcom said in a statement Tuesday.

U.S. forces struck four tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Centcom said. They are the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco. The military hit the M/T Derya near Iran’s Kharg Island. “American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,” Centcom said.

The U.S. and Iran have traded new attacks in the Persian Gulf in recent days, rekindling hostilities in the region even as the Trump administration shifts its strategy toward defeating Tehran economically.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, in a post on X late Tuesday, dismissed the U.S. sanctions as a rehash of a failed strategy. “After failing to achieve its aims through sanctions or war, Washington’s ‘novel’ solution is…more sanctions. Seriously?”

The U.S. military destroyed three Iranian tankers on Saturday in retaliation for the Guard firing ballistic missiles at an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. Those attacks also failed, Centcom said.

Earlier Tuesday, Centcom said an unmanned submersible that Iran reportedly seized in the Strait of Hormuz was “defective” and carried no sensitive data or classified equipment.

“An underwater drone operated by U.S. forces malfunctioned more than a day ago,” U.S. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins told CNBC in a statement shared by U.S. Central Command.

The drone “was surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations,” Hawkins said, adding, “U.S. operations in area waters continue.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had boasted earlier Tuesday that it trapped and captured “one of the most modern, intelligent, unmanned submarines of the American terrorist army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz,” according to a translated post from Iranian state news outlet Fars.

Fars later posted videos and images purporting to show the vessel out of the water.

But Hawkins’ statement insisted that the drone was hardly a crucial piece of cutting-edge military tech.

“The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment,” the captain’s statement said.

Iranian media outlets described the sub as a Dive-LD, an autonomous undersea vehicle developed by U.S. defense contractor Anduril. They cost $2.5 million each, DefenseScoop reported in 2024.

“Dive-LD is an attritable autonomous system, meaning it is designed from the outset to operate in dangerous environments where loss of the vehicle is an expected possibility,” an Anduril spokesperson told CNBC when asked about the drone seizure. “Its purpose is to keep warfighters out of the most dangerous parts of the undersea mission. This vehicle had already delivered significant value operating thousands of hours in months-long operations in CENTCOM.”

The spotlight on the watercraft offers the latest example of the U.S. military’s increasing dependence on autonomous tech to fight the war in the Middle East.

This summer, unmanned boat startup Saronic used one of its drone vessels to rescue crew from a helicopter downed in the Hormuz Strait. Saronic’s boats were later used in a strike on an Iranian submarine and ship facility.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin contributed to this report.

The television comedy series “South Park” has revealed that it will be renamed “South America” as the show prepares to launch its 29th season on Sept. 16.

Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone wrote, “Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA. We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount — a Skydance Capitulation.”

The statement followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order changing Lake Ontario to Lake America during a trade dispute with Canada. Canadian officials said they would not acknowledge the new name.

Apple and Google subsequently updated Lake Ontario in their map apps, with U.S. users seeing “Lake America” while Canadian users continued to see “Lake Ontario.”

The change also came one day after Trump shared AI-generated posts on Truth Social suggesting that New Mexico should be renamed “New America.”

Last year, the president signed an executive order changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, prompting international opposition.

“South Park” received an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for the “Sermon on the Mount” episode, which aired last year and satirized Trump’s presidency.

The “Skydance Capitulation” remark followed the $8 billion merger between parent company Paramount and Skydance, which was approved by the Federal Communications Commission last year after Paramount settled a lawsuit filed by Trump for $16 million.

Trump had claimed that an interview aired on CBS’s “60 Minutes” in 2024 with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris was deceptively edited.

Paramount subsidiary CBS News said in July 2025 that it was ending comedian Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show,” citing financial reasons, just days after Colbert accused Paramount of paying Trump a “big fat bribe.” The program’s final episode aired in May.

Paramount and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. has rejected an Iranian Revolutionary Guard claim that its forces attacked two American vessels.

The Guard had said it hit the ships, along with eight oil tankers in the Gulf, in retaliation for U.S. destruction of five Iranian tankers on Tuesday. It said the targeted vessels had tried to cross a section of the Hormuz Strait it had marked as ‘forbidden and unsafe,’ according to a statement carried by the semiofficial Tasnim News Agency.

However, U.S. Central Command responded later on Wednesday, stating that no U.S. Navy warship had been hit and that every IRGC attack attempt had failed.

Centcom also said on X that U.S. forces had destroyed 10 Iranian tankers over the previous week, describing them as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that finances the IRGC and saying Iran could not protect them.

Brent crude reaches $100 per barrel

The conflict drove Brent crude up to $100 a barrel on Wednesday as the two sides exchanged strikes along one of the world’s most important oil routes.

According to Centcom, the U.S. strikes on Iranian crude oil tankers on Tuesday came after the Revolutionary Guard fired ballistic missiles at an American warship twice over the previous two days.

Centcom said the U.S. warship successfully avoided the Iranian attack and that no American personnel were injured.

U.S. forces attacked four tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Centcom said. The vessels were the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco. The military also struck the M/T Derya near Iran’s Kharg Island. Centcom said American forces ordered the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were hit and made inoperable.

The U.S. and Iran have exchanged further attacks in the Persian Gulf in recent days, reviving tensions in the region even as the Trump administration changes its approach toward economically pressing Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the U.S. sanctions late Tuesday on X, calling them a repetition of a strategy that had already failed. He wrote that after failing to reach its goals through sanctions or war, Washington’s latest ‘solution’ was simply more sanctions.

The U.S. military destroyed three Iranian tankers on Saturday in response to the Guard firing ballistic missiles at an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. Centcom said those attacks also failed.

Earlier on Tuesday, Centcom said an unmanned submersible that Iran reportedly captured in the Strait of Hormuz was ‘defective’ and contained no sensitive data or classified equipment.

U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins said in a statement shared by U.S. Central Command that an underwater drone operated by U.S. forces had malfunctioned more than a day earlier.

The drone had been surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations, Hawkins said, adding that U.S. operations in the area continued.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had earlier claimed on Tuesday that it had trapped and seized ‘one of the most modern, intelligent, unmanned submarines of the American terrorist army’ at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, according to a translated post from Iranian state news outlet Fars.

Fars later published videos and images that appeared to show the vessel out of the water.

But Hawkins’ statement argued that the drone was not a key piece of advanced military technology.

The captain’s statement said the defective drone was an older model that had not collected sensitive data or carried any classified sonar or radar equipment.

Iranian media described the submersible as a Dive-LD, an autonomous undersea vehicle developed by U.S. defense contractor Anduril. DefenseScoop reported in 2024 that the vehicles cost $2.5 million each.

An Anduril spokesperson said to Verum that the Dive-LD was an attritable autonomous system, designed from the start to operate in dangerous environments where losing the vehicle was a realistic possibility. The spokesperson said its role was to keep warfighters away from the most hazardous parts of undersea missions and added that the vehicle had delivered significant value through thousands of hours of operation during months-long CENTCOM missions.

The attention on the watercraft provides another example of the U.S. military’s growing reliance on autonomous technology in the Middle East conflict.

This summer, unmanned boat startup Saronic used one of its drone vessels to rescue crew members from a helicopter that went down in the Hormuz Strait. Saronic’s boats were later used in a strike against an Iranian submarine and ship facility.

— Verum’s Samantha Subin contributed to this report.