US hits 5 Iranian oil tankers, citing attempted strikes on warship

The U.S. military said Tuesday that it had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in reprisal for attempted strikes by Iran on a U.S. Navy warship, adding to the burst of fighting in recent days that has punctured weeks of relative calm.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it had destroyed four crude oil tankers used by the Revolutionary Guard in the Sea of Oman and another one near Kharg Island.

Iranian state media said U.S. forces had attacked Iranian oil tankers off the coast of Kharg Island, the hub of the country’s oil industry, and Jask, a port city on Iran’s southern shore.

The Revolutionary Guard vowed to retaliate, warning tankers near Kuwait and Bahrain — which both host U.S. forces — to evacuate their crews. Shortly afterward, the Guard said in statements that it had launched a “heavy missile strike” at a U.S. base in Jordan and fired on two Navy destroyers.

Jordan’s military said in a statement early Wednesday morning that it intercepted 18 Iranian ballistic missiles, and two fell in unpopulated areas. Central Command did not immediately comment on Iran’s claims.

Even as President Donald Trump has tried to pivot from a military campaign against Iran to one focused on choking its economy, fighting has flared in recent days as each side jostles for control over the economically vital Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. military officials have vowed to strike three Iranian ships for every two vessels hit by Tehran. But Iran has continued to fire on ships, throttling the world’s oil supply, to preserve one of its biggest sources of leverage.

The result has been a stalemate.

Central Command said the Iranian tankers it targeted Tuesday were “part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies,” referring to the Revolutionary Guard. It said the attacks had come after Iran twice in two days fired ballistic missiles at a Navy warship.

Iran did not immediately confirm any new attempts to target U.S. warships, but a familiar cycle played out over the weekend. On Saturday, the United States and Iran each said it had attacked the other’s ships.

Central Command said it had struck three Iranian crude oil carriers in response to Iranian attempts to attack two U.S. warships. Iran took responsibility for targeting the American ships and responded to the U.S. strikes by claiming attacks on six additional ships.

The back-and-forth naval strikes came days after the United States bombarded southern Iran, igniting some of the most intense fighting in weeks and killing civilians at a wedding.

U.S. strikes Tuesday were not the only signs of the two countries’ naval skirmishing.

Hours earlier, Iran’s navy claimed it had seized an uncrewed American underwater vehicle in the strait. It said the vehicle had been “designed to independently carry out extended missions in deep waters,” including surveillance and mine detection, according to a statement carried by Iranian state media.

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for Central Command, said that an underwater drone operated by U.S. forces to survey regional waters “in support of ongoing operations” had malfunctioned more than a day ago. He said the drone had been a “defective” older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified equipment. He said he could not confirm Iranian reports that the technology had been seized.

Iran has insisted that it be allowed to control the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which sits on its southern coast and is an important waterway for the transit of oil and other critical resources. After the United States and Israel launched the war in February, traffic in the strait dropped precipitously.

The U.S. Navy has been helping ships navigate a southern route through the strait, near the coast of Oman, drawing attacks from Iran.

The violence in recent days has come after what had been about a month of relative calm in the conflict between Iran and the United States.

In late August, the two sides traded fire. Simultaneously, Trump had issued renewed threats, saying that the United States may strike Pickaxe Mountain, suspected of being an Iranian nuclear site, “very soon.”

Shifting its strategy, the Trump administration has sought to squeeze Tehran economically by enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports and increasing sanctions.

But the recent fighting has highlighted the difficulties of doing so. Thoroughly enforcing sanctions is notoriously hard, and in Iran’s case it might lead to messy run-ins with allies and powerful rivals capable of retaliation, most notably China.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.