Daijiworld Media Network - Jordan
Jordan, Sep 9: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday said it had launched missile strikes on a US military base in Jordan, escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers.
The IRGC said its “punitive operation” targeted the US air base at Al-Azraq in Jordan. According to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, the strikes damaged maintenance and repair facilities, deployment locations and shelters for fighter jets.
Jordan’s army said it intercepted 18 missiles launched from Iran towards the kingdom.
The latest escalation came after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to what Washington described as Iranian attacks targeting an American warship.
The US military said it had ordered the crews of the tankers to abandon their vessels before carrying out the strikes.
Iran had warned that it would retaliate if its oil tankers were attacked. The Iranian government on Wednesday also warned oil tankers operating off the coasts of US allies Kuwait and Bahrain to leave the area, saying the vessels would be targeted.
Iranian Army chief of staff Ali Abdollahi had earlier warned that Tehran would attack US bases across the region if Iranian oil tankers were struck.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the American strikes, saying Iran continued to attempt attacks on US naval vessels.
“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,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia.
Iranian media also reported that a US missile struck a tanker near Iran’s Kharg Island on Tuesday. The reports said there were no casualties.
The latest exchange has intensified concerns over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy corridor. The waterway normally carries around one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, but shipping traffic has been severely disrupted since the war began in February.
Iran has largely controlled the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict, while the United States has stepped up efforts to restrict Iranian oil exports and put pressure on Tehran’s economy.
The escalating conflict has also pushed global oil prices higher. Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed close to $100 a barrel on Wednesday, reaching $99.38, while US West Texas Intermediate crude stood at $94.51 a barrel.
The IRGC also claimed on Tuesday that it had seized one of the most modern unmanned American submarine drones in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US military acknowledged that an unmanned underwater vehicle had been lost but said it had malfunctioned. Washington also described it as an older model and said it did not carry sensitive data.
Iranian state television further reported that the IRGC had attacked two US destroyers with ballistic missiles. The US military had not immediately commented on the claim.
The latest confrontation marks another major escalation in the six-month-old US-Iran war, with the destruction of Iranian oil tankers and retaliatory strikes raising fears of further attacks on military and energy targets across the Gulf region.