US Destroys Five Iranian Oil Tankers Amid Escalating Conflict
The US military struck Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to attacks on its warships. The U.S. Central Command said it had no information to offer about the strikes, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that '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 U.S. warship successfully evaded Iranian ballistic missile attacks over the past two days and continued patrolling regional waters. No American personnel were harmed in the attempted attacks.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy warned crews of oil tankers near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately leave their vessels, saying they could be targeted in retaliation for U.S. attacks on Iranian tankers.
The US military also imposed sanctions on additional elements of Iran's aviation industry, 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.