Hostilities between the U.S. and Iran continued to escalate on Tuesday night, as the U.S. destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, and Iran retaliated by attacking numerous civilian vessels and launching missiles at U.S. forces in Jordan. The benchmark price of oil rose above $100 per barrel for the first time since July amid the escalation.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said five Iranian crude carriers were destroyed by U.S. airstrikes in response to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launching ballistic missiles at a U.S. Navy warship twice in two days.
“The U.S. warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed,” CENTCOM said.
“In response to Iran’s most recent failed attacks, CENTCOM destroyed the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1, and M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman as well as M/T Derya near Kharg Island,” the statement said.
“American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,” it added.
CENTCOM said the five ships, and three other Iranian tankers destroyed by U.S. strikes on September 5, were part of the “multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies.”
“Iran has no means by which to defend these vessels,” the U.S. military statement observed.
CENTCOM released footage of the Iranian ships being devastated by American airstrikes:
“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,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned during a trip to Columbia on Tuesday.
The IRGC claimed it attacked at least ten ships near the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation, and the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center (UKMTO) said it received unconfirmed reports of several merchant ships in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman that were hit by “disabling fire.” One of the ships attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates said it was listing, and could be taking on water.
Iraqi officials said a Panama-flagged tanker called New Andros was hit by a drone in Iraqi territorial waters and caught fire. The fire was extinguished by Iraqi rescue boats, and no casualties were reported.
“Following the actions of the American military in targeting several Iranian oil tankers, we warn all oil tanker crews in the areas around the ports of Kuwait and Bahrain, which are hosting these forces and are complicit in their actions, to immediately evacuate their vessels, whether they are at anchor or docked as they will be targeted,” the IRGC said in a statement posted by Iranian state media.
The IRGC said it attacked two American warships in addition to eight oil tankers and ten other “non-compliant vessels” in the waters Iran claims to control. CENTCOM dismissed the IRGC’s claims of striking two U.S. Navy destroyers as “completely false.”
U.S.-Iran tensions rising across the Middle East. Again. (Bedirhan Demirel/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“No U.S. Navy warship has been struck; all IRGC attempted attacks failed. Meanwhile, U.S. forces have successfully destroyed 10 Iranian tankers in just the last week,” CENTCOM said.
Iran also launched twenty ballistic missiles at Jordan, a U.S. regional ally that hosts an American military base. Iranian state media claimed the attack inflicted “heavy damage,” but Jordanian and U.S. officials said all of Iran’s weapons were intercepted without damage or casualties.
“Jordan’s air defense systems engaged 20 ballistic missiles launched toward Jordanian territory, successfully intercepting and destroying 18 of them, while two missiles fell in unpopulated areas,” the Jordanian military said.
U.S. officials characterized the Iranian attack on Jordan as “ineffective,” and said all U.S. personnel in the country were accounted for.
The global benchmark Brent crude oil topped $100 per barrel in trading on Wednesday as fighting between the U.S. and Iran intensified. The highest price for Brent crude since the war began at the end of February was $126 per barrel.
“Oil investors are expressing their view about the impact of the latest bout of escalation in the Middle East in an unambiguous way. They are voting with their dollar, and this vote strongly indicates that unless the Strait of Hormuz re-opens, and oil starts flowing again uninterruptedly, supply will not be aligned with demand in the foreseeable future,” warned PVM analyst Tamas Varga.