Iran retaliates against US allies after its oil tankers destroyed

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced early on Wednesday that its aerospace forces had targeted a US air base in Jordan and its operational units struck US combat destroyers DDG-119 and DDG-53, which carry cruise missiles and Aegis systems, in response to US actions against Iranian oil tankers.

The US military had yet to respond to the reports.

Jordan's armed forces spokesperson said that the country had come under a missile attack originating from Iranian territory. Jordanian air defense systems engaged 20 ballistic missiles launched, successfully intercepting and destroying 18 of them, while two fell in areas free of population centers, the spokesperson said.

The Jordan Armed Forces conducted its defenses with the threat “in accordance with approved operational procedures” to protect the country's air space and the safety of its citizens, the spokesperson said, adding that monitoring, tracking and assessment operations remain ongoing.

Earlier, the US military's Central Command said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers on Tuesday and posted video of the strikes, which it called a response to the IRGC targeting a US Navy warship with ballistic ​missiles twice over the previous two days. No Americans were harmed, it added.

The US strikes were part of the "pressure campaign" against the Iranian economy, which relies heavily on crude oil exports, Fox News reported, citing US officials.

Also on Tuesday, the IRGC's navy said its forces captured one of the US Army's "most modern, smart" unmanned submarines at the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the day.

In a statement published on the IRGC's official news outlet, Sepah News, the IRGC navy said the unmanned underwater vehicle was captured in a complex intelligence and operational operation.

The submersible vehicle, identified as a Dive-LD, is equipped with the world's most modern subsurface vehicle technology, the IRGC Navy said.

Following the IRGC's announcement, the US military said in a statement that one of its underwater drones "malfunctioned" over a day earlier during a survey of regional waters, without mentioning whether the device was seized by Iran.

After a month of calm ​in August, Iran and the US resumed exchanging fire in recent days, driving the price of benchmark Brent crude oil to its highest level since July 23. Brent crude futures jumped another dollar per barrel after the ​Jordanian attack, but prices remained below $100 per barrel, despite the disruptions.

The war has been marked by a cycle of pauses followed by periodic flare-ups, with Iran still able to launch missile and drone strikes on its neighbors and threaten oil shipping ‌in the Strait of Hormuz despite US attacks that have degraded much of its conventional forces and extracted a toll on its already ailing economy.

In addition to the periodic tit-for-tat military strikes, the US Treasury on Tuesday announced a new round of sanctions on Iran, targeting 36 individuals and entities, with a focus on Iran's aviation sector and related companies.

The move is part of Washington's broader efforts to further increase economic pressure on Iran. "Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned today: You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release.

(With input from agencies)