US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed retaliation for Iranian strikes on US naval ships. (Handout / US NAVY/AFP Photo)
Iran launched fresh attacks against U.S. targets in the Middle East on Sept. 9 in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian oil tankers, dragging the foes deeper into war.
Tehran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Sept. 9 that 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 IRGC said on Sept. 9 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 near $100 a barrel in Asian morning trade, as the flare-up threatened to further choke supply from the crude-rich Middle East.
The price of Brent crude, the benchmark international contract, rose to $99.46 per barrel, while the main US contract West Texas Intermediate was at $94.45 per barrel.
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.
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 US 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 Sept. 8 on a visit to Colombia.
