US military says it destroyed 5 Iranian oil tankers after missile attacks on Navy warship

Iran has launched missiles toward US targets in Jordan Iranian staterun media said following the latest American strikes Its the latest titfortat retaliation after the US military said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers following two attacks on a US warship by Irans Revolutionary Guard over the past two daysUS Central Command when asked about the strikes on the Jordanian airbase said it had no information to offer The Iranian tankers destroyed in the attack were the Kivik Charminar Horizon 1 and the Riesco in the Gulf of Oman Central Command saidThe US military also destroyed the vessel Derya which was located near Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz Central Command said the crews of the five vessels were told to abandon ship before the attacks The strikes come just three days after US forces destroyed three Iranian oil tankers after Irans Revolutionary Guards tried to attack a US aircraft carrier and destroyerIranian state television also reported the US strikes saying US forces attacked at least three Iranian oil tankers near the southern port of Jask and near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf It said the crews were evacuated Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US will not allow Irans attacks to go unansweredIran continues to try to hit US naval ships And for every time they do that or try to do that theyre going to lose tankers And I think youll see that again today Rubio told reporters on Tuesday when asked about the latest attacks in Iran while on a trip to ColombiaDanny Citrinowicz an Iran expert at Israels Institute for National Security Studies warned that such backandforth strikes can only risk more retaliation and further impact on the global economy There is no kinetic solution to the Strait of Hormuz problem he said on social media Every attempt to impose one only brings Washington and Tehran closer to an escalation that may become increasingly difficult to controlAn Iranian state TV reporter in Jask said an Iranian tanker was struck near the coast of Yekbeni while another explosion was heard in the area whose source and location were not immediately clear State TV later reported that the US military attacked a second tanker near waters off Jask It said the crews of both vessels were being evacuated by lifeboat toward the Jask coastSeparately state television reported that another Iranian tanker was attacked in the Kharg Island anchorage area It said the crew was safely evacuated shortly after the strike Irans Revolutionary Guard Navy on Tuesday warned crews of oil tankers near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately leave their vessels saying the ships could be targeted in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian tankers It accused Kuwait and Bahrain of hosting US forces and assisting in the attacksOn Saturday the US military said it had struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships were targeted with ballistic missiles warning that it would if necessary destroy Irans limited and exposed oil fleet Iran later said it planned to announce a new exclusion zone near the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels intending to transitThe latest strikes are part of a dual economic and military approach by President Donald Trump as he struggles to bring an end to a more than sixmonthold war with Tehran The Trump administration on Tuesday also imposed sanctions on additional elements of Irans aviation industry targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers in its new push to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partnersBoth the US and Iran are seeking to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz where about onefifth of the worlds oil passed before the war began Rising energy prices are posing political problems for Trump and his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections A barrel of international standard Brent crude briefly climbed as high as USD 9946 on TuesdayA US blockade of Iranian ports has squeezed the countrys economy by limiting its oil exports while the American military has been helping a limited number of ships transit on a route through the Strait of Hormuz off Oman Tehran wants ships to follow a route that it chooses through the strait which was considered an international waterway before the warThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever