U.S. forces strike five Iranian oil tankers, U.S. Central Command says

U.S. Central Command destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf on Tuesday night, according to a military statement. U.S. Central Command launched retaliatory strikes after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted U.S. Navy warships with ballistic missiles twice this week, the statement reported. Iran’s attempted strikes were unsuccessful, and no American personnel were harmed, the military clarified.

U.S. Central Command released aerial videos that appeared to show the tankers on fire and half-sunk after the strikes, adding that American forces called on crews to abandon ship before the strikes. The destroyed tankers served as part of Iran’s multibillion-dollar shadow network funding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other regional proxies, the U.S. military alleged.

How has Iran responded? Iran claimed it struck eight oil tankers and two U.S. Navy destroyers in retaliation, along with 10 U.S.-backed vessels, according to a Wednesday morning statement from Iran’s government-run news. Iranian forces also launched strikes on a U.S. airbase in northern Jordan in response to the tanker strikes, according to the outlet. No U.S. Navy warships were struck by Iran and all Iranian attacks failed, U.S. Central Command clarified Wednesday morning.

Qatar’s Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned Iran’s renewed strikes on Jordan in a Wednesday morning statement. Qatar remained in full solidarity with Jordan and urged all military operations threatening regional stability to end, according to the statement. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry also released a similar Wednesday morning reproof, characterizing Iran’s strikes as unjustified attacks on a brotherly kingdom.