US forces struck five Iranian tankers in response to Tehran twice targeting an American warship over the past two days, US Central Command (Centcom) said. Four Iranian oil tankers linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the Gulf of Oman were targeted, as well as another tanker near Kharg Island, a major oil terminal off Iran’s Gulf coast, Centcom added.
Tehran responded by launching missiles at a US base in Jordan, though Jordan said that it had shot down 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles with its air defence systems.
Tit-for-tat strikes between the two countries have escalated in the past week, more than six months after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February.
Oil prices rose in early trading in Asia. Benchmark Brent crude was up by 1.5% at $99.41 (£73.39) a barrel, while US-traded oil was 1.6% higher at $94.55.
Two of the missiles fired by Iran towards Jordan fell in unpopulated areas, an official spokesperson for the Jordanian Armed Forces said.
Iran has warned of further retaliatory strikes, urging crews of US-linked tankers near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to “immediately leave their vessels whether at anchor or at the ports because they will be targeted”.
The latest round of escalation comes after Iran targeted a US warship with ballistic missiles, which Centcom said were “successfully evaded”. It added that no American troops were harmed during the attacks.
In response, the US said that the five Iranian oil tankers it targeted were “part of a multi-billion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies”.
Kharg Island – where one Iranian tanker was attacked in the latest round of US strikes – hosts Iran’s main terminal for exporting oil.
Some 90% of the country’s crude oil passes through the island, transported through pipes from the mainland.
Pressure on oil prices has been exacerbated by wider regional instability.
Also on Tuesday, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement attacked energy facilities and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, injuring 73 people, according to Saudi authorities.
The drone and missile attack caused fires at oil facilities and installations that led to a temporary halt in operations, Saudi Arabia’s military and energy ministry said.
When asked by reporters about the latest tit-for-tat strikes between the US and Iran, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the situation was “pretty straightforward”.
“Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships. And, for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers. And I think you’ll see that again today,” Rubio told reporters during a trip in Colombia.
The US strikes on Tuesday came hours after Iran’s navy claimed it had seized an uncrewed US submarine in the Strait of Hormuz.
US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for Centcom, said that the “underwater drone operated by US forces malfunctioned more than a day ago” and was used to survey regional waters “in support of ongoing operations”.
The defective drone was “an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment”, he said, adding that US operations in regional waters were ongoing.
By BBC News
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