Politics
Heavy fighting broke out in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. Both sides said that 15 ships had been destroyed. This was the biggest retaliatory attack on ships by both sides since the war began six months ago.
Heavy fighting broke out in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. Both sides said that 15 ships had been destroyed. This was the biggest retaliatory attack on ships by both sides since the war began six months ago. Iran said on Wednesday that it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks came after the United States sank five Iranian oil tankers.
Iran also said that it fired ballistic missiles at a military base in Jordan used by U.S. forces. The attacks, which had been continuing since late August, ended a month-long period of calm. The United States and Iran have attacked each other’s military, shipping, and energy facilities. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that it would respond strongly to any further attacks. The Guards said that if the enemy carried out two or three attacks, Iran would target 20 targets in response. They also said that Iran would soon release a map of a new and larger “no-go zone” in the sea, extending as far as Chabahar.
The U.S. military said that it had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers overnight. It also released video showing the tankers on fire before they sank. U.S. Central Command said that the attacks were carried out in response to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard firing ballistic missiles at a U.S. Navy warship twice in the previous two days. The United States said that no American personnel were injured. During a visit to Colombia, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters, “Iran is targeting U.S. Navy ships, and whenever they do that or try to do so, they will lose their tankers.”
Iran said that, in response, it had attacked two U.S. ships and eight tankers. In the attack, one sailor was killed and another crew member went missing aboard an oil-products tanker called “Hercules Star,” which was anchored near Dubai. Maritime security sources said that the ship may have been attacked by a drone.
According to Iranian state media, Iran had also threatened oil tankers at ports in Kuwait and Bahrain. A maritime security source said that an LNG tanker carrying liquefied natural gas was damaged at a port in the United Arab Emirates.
The IRGC also said on Wednesday that it had fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. military base near Al-Azraq in eastern Jordan. Jordan said that its air-defense systems intercepted 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles. The other two missiles fell in areas away from populated places and caused no damage.
