Iran carried out fresh attacks on U.S. targets in the Middle East Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian oil tankers, deepening the conflict between the two foes.
Tehran's powerful Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they attacked 20 U.S. vessels trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world's oil and gas that Iran has largely controlled since the war erupted.
The United States and Iran are locked in a stalemate six months into the war, with Iran maintaining a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz and Washington pushing a campaign to choke Iran's ports and economy.
The Guards said Wednesday they pummeled a U.S. military base in Jordan in response to U.S. forces destroying five Iranian oil tankers the day before.
The U.S. military said it acted after Iran targeted an American warship, the second such attack in less than a week.
Oil prices climbed to $100 a barrel as the flare-up threatened to further choke supply from the crude-rich Middle East.
The Islamic republic also said it would target oil tankers off U.S.-allied Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for the U.S. strikes on its tankers.
Minutes later, Iran's Revolutionary Guards – the most powerful arm of the Iranian military – said they had struck the U.S. air base of al-Azraq in Jordan with missiles, state media reported.
The "punitive operation" damaged maintenance and repair facilities, deployment locations and shelters for fighter jets, according to IRNA.
Jordan's army said it shot down 18 missiles from Iran targeting the kingdom.
The strikes came after Tehran urged crews on oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels, warning they "will be targeted", the Guards said in a statement posted on IRNA.
The latest round of fighting was triggered after U.S. forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, with the U.S. military saying it "directed the crews to abandon ship" before hitting the vessels.
"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," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday on a visit to Colombia.
Iranian media reported Tuesday that a U.S. missile struck a tanker off the coast of Kharg Island, adding that there were no casualties.
The chief of staff of Iran's army Ali Abdollahi had warned the Islamic republic would hit U.S. bases in the region if Iranian oil tankers were hit.
Iran has asserted control of the Strait of Hormuz -- which normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas -- since the start of the war in February, with traffic through the waterway virtually paralysed.
Tehran requires vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before using the strait.
Iran's Guards also said on Tuesday they seized "one of the most modern, unmanned" American submarine drone in the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military said that the drone had "malfunctioned", insisting it was an "older model" that did not carry any sensitive data.
Iranian state TV also said the Guards had attacked two U.S. destroyers with ballistic missiles.
The U.S. military did not immediately comment on the report.
