US Destroys 5 More Iranian Oil Tankers 09/09 06:20

   The U.S. 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 6-month-old war.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. 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 
6-month-old war.

   Following the American strikes, Iran launched missiles toward U.S. targets 
in Jordan, Iranian state-run media said. Jordan's military said its air defense 
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 U.S. ally that hosts American forces, making 
the kingdom's military bases a target of repeat Iranian strikes. U.S. 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 from its remaining trading partners.

   Both the U.S. 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. A barrel of international 
standard Brent crude briefly climbed as high as $99.46 on Tuesday.

   The U.S. forces also destroyed three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after 
Iran's Revolutionary Guards tried to attack a U.S. 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 U.S. will not allow Iran's attacks 
to go unanswered.

   "Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships. And for every time they do 
that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers. And I think you'll see 
that again today," Rubio told reporters Tuesday when asked about the latest 
attacks in Iran while on a trip to Colombia.

   Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel's Institute for National 
Security Studies, warned that such back-and-forth strikes can only risk more 
retaliation and further impact to the global economy.

   "There is no kinetic solution to the Strait of Hormuz problem," he said on 
social media. "Every attempt to impose one only brings Washington and Tehran 
closer to an escalation that may become increasingly difficult to control."

   U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 abandoned ship 
before the attacks.

   Iranian state television also reported the U.S. strikes, saying U.S. 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.

   An Iranian state TV reporter in Jask said an Iranian tanker was struck near 
the coast of Yekbeni. State TV later reported that the U.S. military attacked a 
second tanker near waters off Jask. Separately, state television reported that 
another Iranian tanker was attacked in the Kharg Island anchorage area.

   Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy on Tuesday had warned crews of oil tankers 
near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately leave their vessels, saying the 
ships could be targeted in retaliation for U.S. attacks on Iranian tankers. It 
accused Kuwait and Bahrain of hosting U.S. forces and assisting in the attacks.

   A U.S. blockade of Iranian ports has squeezed the country's economy by 
limiting its oil exports, while the American military has been helping a 
limited number of ships transit on a route through the Strait of Hormuz off 
Oman. Tehran wants ships to follow a route that it chooses through the strait, 
which was considered an international waterway before the war.