Iran says it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the United States announced it had sunk five Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island after accusing Tehran of launching ballistic missiles at a US warship. Iran also fired missiles at US forces stationed at the Al-Azraq base in Jordan. months into the US-Israel war against Iran, with Tehran closing the Strait of Hormuz and Washington imposing a naval blockade on Iranian ports. The hostilities sent oil prices above $100 a barrel in early trading on Wednesday. Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned US attacks on Iranian oil tankers, warning of the growing consequences of such attacks. “In response to aggressive US actions against Iranian tankers, the armed forces, in accordance with their inherent right of self-defense, attacked US military bases and facilities located in Jordan, which continues to support US military attacks against Iran, as well as several US vessels,” he said. “No American personnel were injured,” he said. CENTCOM said it responded by attacking and destroying the Iranian tankers, M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, as well as the M/T Derya near Kharg Island. “US forces ordered the crews to abandon ship before the attack.” The vessels were hit and rendered inoperable,” CENTCOM added. It later released a video that it said showed the M/T Riesco sinking in the Gulf of Oman. Iran claims to have attacked Jordan. The IRGC confirmed that five tankers were attacked. It said it retaliated by subjecting the Al-Azraq base in Jordan to “ferocious missile attacks” and claimed that hangars used by US warplanes were destroyed in the attacks. The IRGC also claimed responsibility for ballistic missile attacks on US Navy destroyers DDG-119 and DDG-53, saying the attacks caused “significant damage… to these ships.” It was unclear whether the two “American ships” were the same destroyers mentioned in the previous statement. There was no immediate comment from the United States on the Iranian claims. The attacks on the ships followed an IRGC statement warning of imminent attacks on oil tankers on the borders of Bahrain and Kuwait. The IRGC said all crews must evacuate immediately. The IRGC also said a restricted maritime area would extend from Iran’s Chabahar to parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, the precise coordinates of which will be announced. The announcement follows comments on Sunday by Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, saying that Iran would establish a restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz. Later on Wednesday, maritime monitor UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of an attack on a cargo ship off the coast of Iraq. The ship was hit by a projectile 52 kilometers (28 nautical miles) southeast of al-Faw, Iraq, the UKMTO added. Meanwhile, the Jordanian Armed Forces said the country’s air defenses attacked 20 ballistic missiles, “successfully intercepting and destroying 18 of them.” Two missiles “fell in unpopulated areas,” he said in a statement. The attacks caused no casualties, and specialized teams “have begun to secure the sites where debris and shrapnel fell,” the army added. Previously, the Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Ali Abdollahi, had warned that Tehran would attack US military facilities across the region if Iranian oil tankers were targeted. one of them sank. Tehran said it responded the same day by attacking three commercial ships and three ships linked to the United States. Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday condemned the latest US attacks on Iranian commercial vessels as a violation of the United Nations charter, describing them as a “war crime.” He said the “illegal and aggressive actions” were a continuation of the United States’ military “aggression” and “economic war” against the country and warned that Washington and its partners take full responsibility for the consequences. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the attacks, telling reporters during a visit to Colombia that Washington will not back down. “Iran continues to try to attack American warships, and every time they do it or try to do it, they are going to lose tankers,” he said. Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the attacks mark an “escalation” in the six-month conflict. “The United States is now finding different targets, new targets, in terms of responding to Iranian attacks, or what the US administration says are Iranian attacks,” he said. “Whether the strategy is formulated or whether it is just a matter of circumstances, that is not particularly clear at the moment,” he said. “However, there is no doubt that these attacks on Iranian oil tankers would have an economic impact on Iran, and that fits into what the US administration has stated is its current strategy, which is to economically strangle Iran.” Also on Tuesday, the IRGC confirmed the capture of an unmanned US submarine at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz “in a complex operational and intelligence action.” But the US military said the submersible drone had “malfunctioned” while monitoring regional waters. He said the “defective drone” had not collected sensitive data or carried any classified sonar or radar equipment.
