The US military has struck five Iranian crude oil tankers after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attempted to launch two ballistic missile attacks against a US warship over the past two days, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced.
CENTCOM said the US warship successfully evaded both attacks and continued its patrol operations in regional waters. No US service members were injured in the incidents, it added.
In response to the attacks, US forces struck four crude oil tankers — M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco — located in the Gulf of Oman, as well as M/T Derya, which was near Iran’s Kharg Island.
CENTCOM said the crews of the vessels had been instructed to abandon the ships before the US military carried out the strikes to disable them.
The US military has accused Iran of using the tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar network that funds the IRGC and its regional allies.
Following the US strikes, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting a US military base near Al-Azraq in Jordan, further escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The Jordanian military said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 18 ballistic missiles in the air, while two additional missiles landed in uninhabited areas.
No deaths were reported in the attack. Iranian state media reported that the strike was launched in retaliation for recent US attacks.
The latest clashes came days after US forces destroyed three additional Iranian oil tankers following several attempted attacks by the IRGC against a US aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer.
