THE US military said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to the latest attacks on its warships and Tehran hit back at American targets in Jordan, the latest burst of back-and-forth strikes that have lurched the sides back toward open hostilities in a more than six-month-old war. Following the American strikes, Iran launched missiles toward US targets in Jordan, Iranian state-run media said. Jordan’s military said its air defence systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles launched toward its territory and two others fell in places where no one lives. It said it has no reports of casualties. Jordan is a staunch US ally that hosts American forces, making the kingdom’s military bases a target of Iranian strikes. US Central Command said it had no information to offer. The latest strikes are part of a dual economic and military approach by President Donald Trump as he struggles to bring an end to the war. The Trump administration on Tuesday also imposed sanctions on additional elements of Iran’s aviation industry, targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers, in its new push to isolate Tehran fromits remaining trading partners. Both the US and Iran are seeking to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war began. Rising energy prices are posing political problems for Trump and his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections.

 

The US forces 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 will not allow Iran’s attacks to go unanswered. US Central Command said the military struck the tankers on Tuesday 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 in a statement. It said the Iranian tankers destroyed on Tuesday were the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1 and the Riesco in the Gulf of Oman. The US military also destroyed the vessel Derya, which was located near Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The statement said the crews of the five vessels were told to abandon ship before the attacks. Iranian state television also reported the US strikes, saying US forces attacked Iranian oil tankers near the southern port of Jask and near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. It said the crews were evacuated.