US strikes Iranian oil tankers as Tehran targets American base in Jordan

9 September 2026, 01: 41 BST. Updated 1 hour ago.

Key points

• While US-traded oil was 1.3% higher at $94.23, benchmark Brent crude was up by 1.5% at $99.35 (£73.35) a barrel.
• Additionally on Tuesday, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement attacked energy facilities and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, injuring 73 residents, according to Saudi authorities.
• US forces struck five Iranian tankers on Tuesday, sinking one, in response to Tehran twice targeting an American warship, US Central Command (Centcom) remarked.
• Tit-for-tat strikes between the two countries have escalated previously week, more than six months after the US and Israel introduced attacks on Iran on 28 February.
• When asked by reporters regarding the latest tit-for-tat strikes between the US and Iran, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated the situation was "pretty straightforward".

As well as another near Kharg Island, a major oil terminal off Iran's coast, Centcom continued, four Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were targeted.

Tehran responded by launching missiles at a US base in Jordan – most of which were shot down – and remarked it attacked two US vessels and eight oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil rates rose in Asia trading. While US-traded oil was 1.3% higher at $94.23, benchmark Brent crude was up by 1.5% at $99.35 (£73.35) a barrel.

While two of them fell in unpopulated areas, an official spokesperson for the Jordanian Armed Forces stated, jordan remarked it had shot down 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles.

After warning of further retaliatory strikes, Iran's Revolutionary Guards remarked on Wednesday they had attacked two US vessels, eight oil tankers and 10 "non-compliant vessels" trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, state media noted.

Meanwhile, the latest round of escalation comes after Iran targeted a US warship with ballistic missiles. It centcom remarked were "successfully evaded". It continued that no American troops were harmed during the attacks.

In response, the US remarked that the five Iranian oil tankers it targeted were "part of a multi-billion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies".

One of the ships it had struck, the M/T Riesco, sunk in the Gulf of Oman, Centcom afterwards stated, posting a video on X of the damaged vessel.

Kharg Island – where one Iranian tanker was attacked in the latest round of US strikes – hosts Iran's main terminal for exporting oil.

Some 90% of the country's crude oil passes through the island in the Gulf, transported through pipes from the mainland. Pressure on oil rates has been exacerbated by wider regional instability.

Meanwhile, the drone and missile attack caused fires at oil facilities and installations that led to a temporary halt in operations, Saudi Arabia's military and energy ministry remarked.

"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. And I think you'll see that again today, " Rubio remarked to journalists during a trip in Colombia.

Meanwhile, the US strikes on Tuesday came hours after Iran's navy asserted it had seized an uncrewed US submarine in the Strait of Hormuz.

US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for Centcom, remarked that the "underwater drone operated by US forces malfunctioned more than a day ago" and was employed to survey regional waters "in support of ongoing operations".

Meanwhile, the defective drone was "an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment", he remarked, adding that US operations in regional waters were ongoing. With extra reporting from Peter Hoskins.

For now, US strikes Iranian oil tankers as Tehran targets American base in Jordan remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.