US strikes 5 Iranian oil tankers in new round of tit-for-tat attacks

The US military said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers on Tuesday following attacks on a US warship by Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

In a social media post, US Central Command said the strikes were in response to two Iranian efforts to hit the warship with ballistic missiles over the past two days, the statement added.

In response, Tehran hit back at American targets in Jordan, marking the latest tit-for-tat strikes as Washington and Tehran lurch back toward fighting during more than six months of war.

"The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed," it said in a statement.

It said the Iranian tankers destroyed on Tuesday were the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1 and the Riesco in the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. military also destroyed the vessel Derya, which was located near Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

The statement said the crews of the five vessels were told to abandoned ship before the attacks.