U.S. strikes five Iranian tankers; Iran fires missiles toward Jordan
CENTCOM says five Iranian crude carriers were destroyed on Sept. 8 after IRGC attacks on a U.S. warship; Iran launched missiles toward Jordan's base and most were intercepted.
U.S. Central Command said American forces struck five Iranian crude-oil tankers on Sept. 8, destroying four vessels in the Gulf of Oman and a fifth near Kharg Island, a major Iranian export hub in the Persian Gulf. One of the ships was hit, caught fire and later sank.
Retaliation and wider escalation
The strikes were carried out after the U.S. says Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps twice tried to hit a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles in recent days. CENTCOM said the warship successfully evaded the attempted attacks and reported no U.S. casualties.
Video and posts from the U.S. command included a message that read, "M/T Riesco sinks in the Gulf of Oman, Sept. 8, after being destroyed by CENTCOM forces in response to attempted IRGC attacks on a U.S. Navy warship." The command also posted: "CENTCOM forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers, Sept. 8, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days."
CENTCOM said crews were ordered to abandon the vessels before the strikes. Iranian state media reported that the crews of two ships were evacuated by lifeboats.
Tehran responded by launching a missile barrage toward Jordan, saying the target was Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, which U.S. forces use. The Jordanian Armed Forces said its air defenses intercepted 20 ballistic missiles: 18 were successfully destroyed and two fell in uninhabited areas. No fatalities were reported.
The attacks mark a rapid escalation after U.S. strikes earlier this week and last weekend, when American forces hit three Iranian tankers in response to separate Iranian attempts to target a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. Iran has warned it would strike tankers near the ports of Bahrain and Kuwait and told crews to abandon ship.
U.S. political figures reacted sharply. Marco Rubio warned that the United States "will respond whenever Iran attempts to attack U.S. naval vessels," and added that for every such attempt Iran "will lose tankers."
Photo: Принтскрин
