Iran has launched fresh attacks against US targets and vessels in the Middle East after American forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, escalating the six-month-old conflict and deepening the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday that it fired ballistic missiles at a US-linked military base near Al Azraq in Jordan and attacked 10 vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, including two US ships and eight oil tankers.
Jordan’s military said its air defences intercepted 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles fired towards the kingdom, with the remaining two landing in unpopulated areas. No casualties were reported.
The attacks followed US strikes on five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday. Washington said the strikes were retaliation for Iranian ballistic-missile attacks on a US Navy warship.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Iran would face further losses if it continued targeting American vessels.
The latest escalation has further disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route. Only six commodity vessels passed through the waterway on Tuesday, well below the recent 10-day average of 12, according to shipping data cited by Reuters.
Oil prices have also climbed amid fears of prolonged supply disruptions, with Brent crude approaching $100 a barrel.
The latest exchanges mark a sharp escalation in the struggle between Washington and Tehran over control of the strategic waterway and Iran’s oil exports.
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