IRAN LAUNCHED FRESH attacks against US targets in the Middle East on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes that destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, dragging the foes deeper into war and causing oil prices to shoot up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tehran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked 20 US vessels trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and\u00a0pummelled an American military base in Jordan in response to US forces destroying five Iranian oil tankers the day before.<\/p>\n
The US military said it acted after Iran targeted an American warship, the second such attack in less than a week.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s ports and economy.<\/p>\n
Oil prices jumped by more than 1% in Asian morning trade, as the flare-up threatened to further choke supply from the Middle East.<\/p>\n
The price of Brent Crude, the benchmark international contract, rose to $100 (\u20ac85.92) per barrel, while the main US contract West Texas Intermediate was at $94.45 (\u20ac81) per barrel.<\/p>\n
The Islamic republic also said it would target oil tankers off US-allied Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for the US strikes on its tankers.<\/p>\n
Minutes later, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards, the most powerful arm of the Iranian military, said they had struck the US air base of Al-Azraq in Jordan with missiles, state media reported.<\/p>\n
The \u201cpunitive operation\u201d damaged maintenance and repair facilities, deployment locations and shelters for fighter jets, according to IRNA.<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s army said it shot down 18 missiles from Iran targeting the kingdom.<\/p>\n
The strikes came after Tehran urged crews on oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels, warning they \u201cwill be targeted\u201d, the Guards said in a statement posted on IRNA.\n<\/p>\n
US warning\u00a0<\/p>\n
The latest round of fighting was triggered after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, with the US military saying it \u201cdirected the crews to abandon ship\u201d before hitting the vessels.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran continues to try to hit US naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they\u2019re going to lose tankers, and I think you\u2019ll see that again today,\u201d US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday during a visit to Colombia.<\/p>\n
Iranian media reported on Tuesday that a US missile struck a tanker off the coast of Kharg Island, adding that there were no casualties.<\/p>\n
The chief of staff of Iran\u2019s army Ali Abdollahi had warned the Islamic republic would hit US bases in the region if Iranian oil tankers were hit.<\/p>\n
Iran has asserted control of the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries around a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and liquefied natural gas, since the start of the war in February, with traffic through the waterway virtually paralysed.<\/p>\n
Tehran requires vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before using the strait.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Guards also said on Tuesday that they seized \u201cone of the most modern, unmanned\u201d American submarine drone in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
The US military said that the drone had \u201cmalfunctioned\u201d, insisting it was an \u201colder model\u201d that did not carry any sensitive data.<\/p>\n
Iranian state TV also said the Guards had attacked two US destroyers with ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n
The US military did not immediately comment on the report.<\/p>\n