Updated 9 September 2026 at 07:41 IST
Iran launches another wave of attacks on US Navy ships and military base in Jordan after the US strikes on tankers near Kharg Island and Jask, escalating tit-for-tat clash in Gulf, raising fears of bigger conflict and disruption in Strait of Hormuz. US-Iran Clash Intensifies: Tehran Hits Back With Fresh Attack On US Military Base After Tanker Strikes | Image:
File Photo Tehran: Following US strikes on Iranian oil tankers near Kharg Island and Jask, Iran has launched a massive wave of attacks on US Navy ships in the Gulf and US military bases on Tuesday. According to reports, Iran launched fresh strikes just hours after the US military confirmed that it had permanently disabled a few Iran-linked tankers and destroyed another in the Gulf of Oman as part of its economic pressure campaign.
In the meantime, the Middle East conflict escalated sharply as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen expanded the war into Saudi Arabia, striking 4 southern cities, while Washington destroyed a cluster of Iranian tankers and Tehran hit back at an American base in Jordan.
At least 73 people were wounded and oil facilities were left ablaze in the major escalation of the 6-month-old war. The Houthi attacks landed as global crude markets were already on edge, and within hours the United States Central Command (US CENTCOM) confirmed that it had sunk 5 Iranian crude carriers.
The Central Command released video of the strikes, calling them retaliation after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice in the previous 2 days. The US military officials, however, claimed that no American personnel were hurt in the process.
US Hits Tankers, Iran Strikes Jordan Base
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking during a visit to Colombia, issued a grim warning to Tehran, saying, “Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers.”
On the other hand, the IRGC, in a statement carried by state media, stated that it had launched a ballistic missile attack on a US base near Al Azraq in Jordan. It claimed that Iranian state television broadcast footage showed the missiles being fired towards Jordan.
The exchange served as another example of a pattern that has defined the war, which is brief pauses followed by sudden flare-ups. Despite months of American strikes that have degraded much of its conventional arsenal and deepened pressure on the struggling economy, Iran retains the ability to fire missiles and drones at neighbours and to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Houthis Expand War Into Saudi Heartland
The Houthis, who control most of Yemen’s populated regions including the capital Sanaa, have compounded pressure on the US allies by intermittently disrupting shipping at the other end of the Arabian Peninsula, near the entrance to the
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