USA · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
U.S. Destroys Five Iranian Oil Tankers After Iran Targets U.S. Warship Twice
CENTCOM destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for attacks on a U.S. warship. Iran attacked a U.S. warship and a base in Jordan with missiles.
Whether Iran hit US warships.
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CBS News
“Jordan said Wednesday that its military intercepted 18 Iranian missiles, with no casualties reported.”Read the original ↗
CNBC emphasises US denial of hits, while CBS highlights Jordan intercepts and casualties-as-absent, creating a mild attribution imbalance.
Tankers hit, missiles fly
The United States struck and destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, the U.S. Central Command said, after it said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sought to target a U.S. warship twice over the past two days and the vessel “successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks”.
“successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks”
CENTCOM said American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable, naming M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1, and M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman and M/T Derya near Kharg island.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S. attacks on Iranian tankers and warned of “escalatory consequences of such attacks,” while Iran said it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. announced it had sunk five Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg island.
The fighting unfolded as Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz and Washington enforced a naval blockade on Iranian ports, and the hostilities drove oil prices above $100 a barrel in early trading on Wednesday.
Jordan said its air defences engaged 20 ballistic missiles, “successfully intercepting and destroying 18 of them,” with two missiles “fell in unpopulated areas,” and the attacks did not cause any casualties.
Competing claims and denials
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed that five tankers were targeted and said it retaliated by subjecting the Al-Azraq base in Jordan to “fierce missile strikes,” while also claiming ballistic missile attacks on the U.S. Navy destroyers DDG-119 and DDG-53.
The U.S. denied a claim by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that it struck two American vessels in retaliation, with U.S. Central Command responding that “No U.S. Navy warship has been struck; all IRGC attempted attacks failed.”
CENTCOM also said it “successfully destroyed 10 Iranian tankers in just the last week,” while CNBC reported that the Guard had said the targeted vessels attempted to cross an area of the Hormuz Strait designated “forbidden and unsafe”.C
CBS News reported that Brent crude topped $100 per barrel Wednesday, and it said Jordan intercepted 18 Iranian missiles with no casualties reported.C
In a separate U.S.-Iran exchange, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the latest U.S. attacks as a “war crime,” describing them as a violation of the United Nations charter.
What comes next
The U.S. and Iran’s strikes continued to threaten wider disruption of the region’s oil corridor, with CBS News saying the Strait of Hormuz traffic would remain constrained through end of year and citing the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s estimate of an average of 5.7 million barrels of oil per day shut in.
“an average of 5.7 million barrels of oil per day shut in”
CBS News also reported that the EIA said pre-war levels won’t return until the second quarter of 2027 and that on Wednesday the price for a barrel of Brent crude crossed $101, the highest level since May.C
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned that all crews must evacuate immediately and said a maritime restricted area would extend from Chabahar in Iran into parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, with its precise coordinates to be announced.
The New York Times described the escalation as puncturing “weeks of relative calm,” and it said the Revolutionary Guards vowed to retaliate, warning tankers near Kuwait and Bahrain—which both host American forces—to evacuate their crews.
As the standoff widened, the U.S. Central Command said it had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in reprisal for attempted strikes on a U.S. Navy warship, while Iran’s state media said the U.S. attacked Iranian oil tankers off the coast of Kharg Island and Jask.