Military tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated sharply after US forces struck five Iranian tanker vessels in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island, while Iran launched a missile attack targeting a US military base in Jordan.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the tanker strikes were carried out on Tuesday, following what it described as drone and missile attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against US aircraft patrolling the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and Monday.
The five vessels targeted by US forces were identified as the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1, M/T Riesco and M/T Derya. Four were operating in the Gulf of Oman, while the fifth was near Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil-export hub.
CENTCOM said the vessels were damaged and rendered inoperable, but no crew members were killed or injured. According to the US military, crews were instructed to abandon the ships before they were struck.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB also confirmed that the tanker vessels had been attacked.
Iran launches missile attack on US base in Jordan
In retaliation, Iran’s elite IRGC launched a missile attack targeting the US military base at Al Azraq in Jordan.
Jordan’s armed forces said Iran fired several ballistic missiles toward the base, but most were intercepted and destroyed by air-defence systems before reaching their targets.
The IRGC said the attack was carried out in response to US strikes on Iranian commercial vessels, describing its retaliation as a “devastating missile attack” on the US base.
Iran also acknowledged CENTCOM’s earlier claim that Iranian missiles had targeted US warships in the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC claimed that ballistic missile strikes had seriously damaged two US Navy destroyers, identified as USS DDG-119 and USS DDG-53. The claim could not be independently verified.
Tehran threatens further attacks
The IRGC also issued a warning to US allies Kuwait and Bahrain, threatening attacks on oil tankers at ports in the two Gulf states.
It urged crews aboard oil tankers docked at or anchored in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports to leave their vessels immediately, warning that the ships could be targeted.
The latest exchanges mark a significant escalation in direct military confrontation between Washington and Tehran, raising concerns over the security of commercial shipping and energy supplies in and around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important oil transit routes.
COMMENTS