The US on Tuesday launched more strikes against Iranian oil tankers, and the Iranian military began responding by launching a heavy missile attack on US bases in Jordan.
A US official told Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin that the US launched strikes against tankers near Kharg Island, deep inside the Persian Gulf, and near the Iranian port city of Jask, on the Gulf of Oman.
US Central Command later claimed that it “destroyed” five Iranian tankers, and said the attacks were a response to Iran targeting a US warship that is enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports.
“The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed,” CENTCOM said.
So far, Iranian media has reported that at least one tanker was struck near Kharg Island and that there were no casualties since the crew evacuated. Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, the chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said that the US had warned the tankers would be targeted.
“The aggressive US army has given Iranian oil tankers a warning to evacuate in order to attack them. So, I declare that any attack on Iranian oil tankers will result in the targeting of US bases in the region by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Abdollahi said, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that tankers near Kuwait and Bahrain would also be targeted in response and urged crew members to evacuate their vessels, whether they’re in port or at anchor. The IRGC also claimed that its forces struck US Navy destroyers in its retaliation.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday, after the US bombed three Iranian tankers on Saturday, that if the US keeps targeting Iran’s oil infrastructure, the Iranian military would target assets belonging to US energy companies in the region.