U.S. military says it destroyed 5 Iranian oil tankers after attacks on Navy warship

A motorboat travels past commercial vessels anchored amid haze in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to the latest attacks on its warships and Tehran hit back at American targets in Jordan, the latest burst of back-and-forth strikes that have lurched the sides back toward open hostilities in a more than 6-month-old war.

Following the American strikes, Iran launched missiles toward U.S. targets in Jordan, Iranian state-run media said. Jordan's military said its air defense systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles launched toward its territory and two others fell in places where no one lives. It said it has no reports of casualties. Jordan is a staunch U.S. ally that hosts American forces, making the kingdom's military bases a target of repeat Iranian strikes. U.S. Central Command said it had no information to offer.

The latest strikes are part of a dual economic and military approach by President Donald Trump as he struggles to bring an end to the war. The Trump administration on Tuesday also imposed sanctions on additional elements of Iran's aviation industry, targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers, in its new push to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners.

Both the U.S. and Iran are seeking to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world's oil passed before the war began. Rising energy prices are posing political problems for Trump and his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections. A barrel of international standard Brent crude briefly climbed as high as $99.46 on Tuesday.

The U.S. forces also destroyed three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after Iran's Revolutionary Guards tried to attack a U.S. aircraft carrier and destroyer with ballistic missiles, warning that it would, "if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet." Iran later said it planned to announce a new "exclusion zone" near the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels intending to transit.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. will not allow Iran's attacks to go unanswered.

"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," Rubio told reporters Tuesday when asked about the latest attacks in Iran while on a trip to Colombia.