Iran fired more than 30 ballistic missiles at two US air bases in Jordan after fresh US strikes hit Iranian oil tankers near Kharg Island and Jask. Patriot interceptors downed part of the barrage, while Iran separately ordered tanker crews out of Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports as CENTCOM said it destroyed five Iranian crude carriers.
Iran fired more than 30 ballistic missiles at US bases in Jordan on Tuesday, with at least 20 aimed at the Al Salti and Prince Hassan air bases, in one of the largest single waves in months. The barrage followed renewed US strikes on Iranian oil tankers near Kharg Island, with Iranian media reporting multiple explosions in the area. Initial Iranian reports said two more tankers were hit near Jask, roughly 800 kilometres southeast of Kharg.
Patriot batteries intercept part of the barrage
Explosions were reported at both Jordanian bases, with initial accounts describing a direct impact and cluster munitions at Muwaffaq Salti. Dozens of Patriot interceptors were fired from the Jordanian bases against the incoming wave, though several impacts were still reported to have gotten through. The full picture, including casualty figures and the precise scale of damage, remains unverified and subject to revision as more details emerge.
Iran tells tanker crews to leave Gulf ports
Tehran warned that any further strikes on its oil tankers would draw retaliation against US bases in the region. Iran's Revolutionary Guard separately told crews aboard US-linked oil tankers in and around Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports to abandon their vessels immediately, naming both Gulf states as hosts of the US military campaign. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Iran would keep losing tankers each time it targeted US Navy vessels, and US Central Command said its forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers on Tuesday, a response it linked to the IRGC targeting a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the preceding two days.
Oil traders price in a bigger risk premium
The exchange marks a sharp escalation from the tanker war that has simmered in the Gulf for months into direct strikes on military infrastructure and open threats to commercial shipping lanes. Markets are likely to focus first on the direct hits to tanker traffic and the explicit threats against shipping in and around Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, given the concentration of oil infrastructure and export routes in that corridor. Any move by shipping firms or insurers to reroute or halt transits through the Gulf would tighten already stretched freight and insurance costs, adding a fresh risk premium to crude benchmarks.
Washington has said it will keep targeting Iranian tankers if Iran strikes US Navy assets again.
Source: Investinglive
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