Middle East live: US destroys five Iranian oil tankers as Iran threatens Kuwait and Bahrain

Iran warns oil tankers in Kuwait, Bahrain they will be targeted

Iran said early Wednesday it would target oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for US strikes on its vessels, urging crews to leave their ships, according to the IRNA state news agency.

«We warn all oil tankers in the Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, which host these terrorists and are partners in their evils, whether they are anchored or docked – we warn them to leave their vessels because they will be targeted,» Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement posted on IRNA.

Iran launches missiles at US targets in Jordan after tanker strikes

Iran has launched missiles towards US targets in Jordan, Iranian state-run media said, following the latest American strikes.

It’s the latest tit-for-tat retaliation after the US military said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers following two attacks on a US warship by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard over the past two days.

US Central Command, when asked about the strikes on the Jordanian airbase, said it had no information to offer.

The Iranian tankers destroyed in the attack were the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1 and the Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, Central Command said. The US military also destroyed the vessel Derya, which was located near Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Central Command said the crews of the five vessels were told to abandoned ship before the attacks.

US forces destroy five Iranian oil carriers after missile attacks

US forces destroyed five Iranian oil carriers on Tuesday after Tehran launched ballistic missiles at an American warship twice in recent days, the US military said.

«American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,» US Central Command said in a statement, adding the strikes were «in response to Iran’s most recent failed attacks.»