The United States destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on September 8, four in the Gulf of Oman and one near Kharg Island, after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps twice attempted to strike a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles over the preceding two days. U.S. Central Command said the warship evaded both attempts and that no American personnel were harmed. Iran responded hours later by firing roughly 20 ballistic missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, also known as Al Azraq, in Jordan, where U.S. forces are stationed. The Jordanian Armed Forces said 18 of the missiles were intercepted and destroyed, with two falling in unpopulated areas and no casualties reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the strikes while speaking to reporters, saying, “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.” The policy predates Tuesday’s strikes. After the IRGC fired on two U.S. Navy warships on September 5, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper warned that Washington would escalate its response disproportionately: “If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours.”
