US military forces have struck five Iranian oil tankers near Kharg Island and the Strait of Hormuz, according to several military sources.
The strikes launched on Tuesday night, after accusing Tehran of launching ballistic missiles at a US warship twice in two days.
Iran responded to Tuesday’s attacks by firing missiles at US forces stationed at the Al Azraq base in Jordan. It also claimed additional strikes on at least two US vessels and eight tankers in the region, saying the assaults caused great damage.
The sources said the US strikes fit into a larger economic effort to squeeze the regime’s teetering economy.
They also disclosed that the strategy specifically includes sinking and disabling Iranian crude tankers to cut off the government’s remaining ability to profit from its large oil reserves.
The strikes hit tankers off Iran’s Kharg Island, a critical oil export hub, and near Jask, an area on Iran’s southern coast near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s IRIB state broadcaster also confirmed the retaliatory attack near Kharg Island, which handled some 90 percent of the country’s oil exports before the war.
It reported that the crew was evacuated and said a second tanker was hit near the southern port of Jask in the Gulf of Oman.
The fresh round of strikes comes as Americans grouse over increased prices due to the war.
