UCENTCOM says US forces destroyed 5 Iranian tankers after attacks on American warship 

WASHINGTON — US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Tuesday.”The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed,” it said in a statement.Iran responded to attacks on its tankers by firing missiles at US forces stationed at the Al Azraq base in Jordan. It also claimed additional strikes on at least two US vessels and eight tankers in the region, saying the assaults caused “great damage”.In a separate post on the US social media platform X, CENTCOM said the Iranian tanker M/T Riesco sank in the Gulf of Oman after being destroyed by US forces in response to the attempted IRGC attacks.CENTCOM released footage showing the vessel sinking, saying it was destroyed on Sept. 8.The exchange of fire comes amid escalating tensions in the Gulf six months into the US and Israel’s war on Iran, with Tehran closing the Strait of Hormuz and Washington enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports.The hostilities drove oil prices to $99.49 a barrel in early trading on Wednesday.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Tuesday that Iran would continue to lose tankers for every attempt it makes to strike US naval vessels.”Iran continues to try to hit US 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 during his visit to Colombia.Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that a tanker was struck near Kharg Island’s anchorage area, with no casualties reported and the crew evacuated.The state broadcaster IRIB separately reported that two oil tankers were attacked near the port of Jask, with their crews evacuated to shore by lifeboat.The developments came amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US over the Strait of Hormuz, despite the signing of a memorandum in June that envisioned a deal to reopen the strategic waterway as a prelude to a wider peace deal.