By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The U.S. on Tuesday struck multiple Iranian tankers in response to more attempted missile attacks on a Navy warship, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.<\/p>\n
It marks the latest tit-for-tat strikes as Washington and Tehran lurch back toward fighting during more than\u00a0six months of war.<\/a><\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard Navy has 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.<\/p>\n The warning, carried by Iranian state television, said the U.S. military had targeted several Iranian oil tankers. It accused Kuwait and Bahrain of hosting U.S. forces and assisting in the attacks.<\/p>\n The Revolutionary Guard warned tanker crews to abandon their vessels whether they were at anchor or docked, saying they \u201cwill be targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n On Saturday, the U.S. military said it had struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships were targeted with ballistic missiles, warning that it would, \u201cif necessary, destroy Iran\u2019s limited and exposed oil fleet.\u201d Iran later said it planned to announce a new \u201cexclusion zone\u201d near the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels intending to transit.<\/p>\n The latest strikes are part of a\u00a0dual economic and military approach<\/a>\u00a0by President Donald Trump as he struggles to bring an end to a more than six-month-old war with Tehran.<\/p>\n The Trump administration on Tuesday also imposed\u00a0sanctions on additional elements of Iran\u2019s aviation industry<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Both the U.S. and Iran are seeking to\u00a0exert control over the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, where about one-fifth of the world\u2019s 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\u00a0climbed as high as $99.46<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday.<\/p>\n