US destroys five Iranian oil tankers as Tehran fires missiles towards Jordan

The US destroyed five Iranian oil tankers after alleged attacks on its warships, and Iran fired missiles towards US targets in Jordan. The exchange has sharpened risks around the Strait of Hormuz, raising oil prices and fears of wider escalation.Stock photo used for illustrationThe US military said on Tuesday that it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers after what it called the latest Iranian attacks on American warships, while Iran responded by launching missiles towards US targets in Jordan. The exchange marked the latest round of strikes between the two sides, pushing them back towards open hostilities in a war that has lasted for more than six months.The developments came as President Donald Trump pursued what the report described as a dual economic and military approach to end the war. Alongside the strikes, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on more than two dozen commercial and private airlines and foreign cargo service providers linked to Iran's aviation industry, as both countries sought to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz and oil prices rose.Iranian state-run media said Tehran launched missiles at US targets in Jordan after the American strikes. Jordan's military said its air defence systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles launched towards its territory and that two others fell in uninhabited areas. It said there were no reports of casualties. Jordan, a close US ally that hosts American forces, has seen its military bases repeatedly targeted in Iranian strikes. US Central Command said it had no information to offer.The US had also destroyed three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after Iran's Revolutionary Guards tried to attack a US aircraft carrier and destroyer with ballistic missiles, warning that it would, "if necessary, destroy Iran's 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 transit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would keep responding to such attacks. "Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships. And for every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers. And I think you'll see that again today," Rubio told reporters on Tuesday during a trip to Colombia.The Trump administration's latest sanctions targeted additional parts of Iran's aviation industry in a fresh push to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners. The report said about one-fifth of the world's oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the war began. Rising energy prices have posed political problems for Trump and his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections, with Brent crude briefly rising to USD 99.46 a barrel on Tuesday. Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, warned that continued strikes and counter-strikes could trigger more retaliation and hurt the global economy. "There is no kinetic solution to the Strait of Hormuz problem," he wrote on social media. "Every attempt to impose one only brings Washington and Tehran closer to an escalation that may become increasingly difficult to control."US Central Command said Tuesday's strikes came after the Revolutionary Guards targeted a Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days. "The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed," it said. The military said the tankers destroyed on Tuesday were the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1 and the Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, and the Derya near Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz. It said the crews of all five vessels were told to abandon ship before the attacks.Iranian state television also reported the US strikes, saying American forces attacked Iranian oil tankers near the southern port of Jask and near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, and that the crews were evacuated. A state TV reporter in Jask said an Iranian tanker was hit near the coast of Yekbeni. State TV later said the US military attacked a second tanker near waters off Jask, while another tanker was attacked in the Kharg Island anchorage area.Earlier on Tuesday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy warned crews of oil tankers near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels immediately, saying the ships could be targeted in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian tankers. It accused Kuwait and Bahrain of hosting US forces and helping in the attacks. The report added that a US blockade of Iranian ports had squeezed Iran's economy by limiting oil exports, while the American military had been helping a limited number of ships move through a route in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman. Tehran, meanwhile, wants ships to use a route through the strait chosen by it. The latest exchanges underlined both the military and economic pressure building around the strait and the risk of further escalation.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 9, 2026 08:22 IST