US strikes Iranian tankers after horror Tehran 'evacuate immediately' threat

The US military has struck Iranian tankers in the Middle East after Iran threatened a major assault on oil tankers in Kuwait and Bahrain and warned crews to evacuate. It is the latest escalation in the Middle East crisis after the United States said ballistic missiles were launched on Saturday at its warships and it struck three Iranian oil tankers in response. That earlier attack by Iran was the first time that the country had targeted commercial shipping during six months of war and now it has made threats to again target non-military vessels. A statement carried by Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency warned oil tankers off the coast of Kuwait and Bahrain to leave "immediately". Moments after that threat, it emerged that the US had struck multiple Iranian tankers tied to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)" Those attacks were carried out on Iran’s Kharg Island in the Gulf and around the southeastern Iranian port city of Jask, east of the Strait of Hormuz "American forces have struck multiple Iranian tankers tied to the IRGC in response to more attempted missile attacks on a US Navy warship," a US official told Al-Monitor. The IRGC had said that the oil tankers would be "targeted" in Kuwait and Bahrain as a response to the "evils of the American terrorist army" which fired at Iranian oil tankers. The statement read: "All oil tankers in Kuwait and Bahraini waters must be evacuated immediately. In light of the evils of the American terrorist army in targeting several Iranian oil tankers, we warn all oil tanker crews in the Kuwaiti and Bahraini docks, which host these terrorists and are partners in their evil, to immediately leave their vessels, whether at anchor or at the docks, because they will be targeted." Iran state media has also said it has a ballistic missile with improved capabilities which was demonstrating Tehran "will take action against any threat, even before it is carried out". That follows comments aired on state TV by the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, who boasted of the new missile capability and claimed it had been "tested" against a US warship. Iran’s messaging in recent days has become more assertive, and the claims over the new Qassem Basir ballistic missile mark "a turning point in Iran’s defence strategy". It described the missile as having greater range and accuracy and a half-tonne warhead. The missile was unveiled last year, when it was said to have at least a 745-mile range. Concerns about Iran's ballistic missile programme were one of the stated reasons the US and Israel attacked Iran early this year, sparking the war. A US blockade on Iranian ports continues in an effort to increase Tehran's economic pain by limiting its oil exports. The US military said that, as of Monday, 94 commercial vessels had been redirected and three had been disabled. Tehran wants ships to follow a route it chooses through the strait, which was considered an international waterway before the war. Iran acknowledged that the US has been helping a limited number of ships transit on a route off Oman, and said Tehran isn’t sinking them because they carry oil, noting environmental concerns.