US forces struck multiple Iranian oil tankers linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in response to further attempted missile attacks on a US Navy warship, a US official told Reuters Tuesday.
According to Al Jazeera, the US military said it has destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers following the IRGC’s ballistic missile attacks on a US Navy warship. The monitoring group identified the vessels as Charminar, Kaviz, Horizon 1, Riesco and the cargo-empty National Iranian Tanker Company VLCC supertanker Derya.
Iran retaliates, strikes Jordan base
In response to the US attacks, the IRGC said it attacked a base in Jordan hosting US troops.
“The maintenance, preparation and deployment hangars for F-35, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets, as well as fighter shelters, were hit,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by state media.
They said they targeted US Navy destroyers DDG-119 and DDG-53 that were carrying ballistic missiles.
Early Wednesday, Iranian state media reported that multiple ballistic missiles had been launched from several cities across Iran toward what it described as hostile US targets.
The state-run Student News Network (SNN) cited local sources as reporting missile launches from Isfahan, Yazd, Khomein, Tabriz, Khorramabad and Shahrekord.
Iran’s top military commander warned that any attack on the country’s tankers would trigger strikes on American bases across the region. After the tanker attacks, the IRGC Navy issued evacuation orders to tankers in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Iran said Tuesday that US forces struck an Iranian oil tanker near Kharg Island and another tanker near the port city of Jask. Some reports also pointed to an attack on a third vessel near Kharg.
Marco Rubio reacts
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran was clearly behind at least some of the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, describing the Yemeni group as Tehran’s agents and proxies.
Rubio said Tuesday that Iran would lose oil tankers each time it tried to strike US naval vessels, defending Washington’s recent attacks on Iranian tankers.
“The back and forth is pretty straightforward, and that is that Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” Rubio told reporters.
“I think you’ll see that again today,” he added.
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