Iran attacks US base in Jordan and ships near Hormuz after tankers sunk

The US military says it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday, local time, in response to the latest attacks on its warships. Tehran says it hit back at American targets in Jordan and attacked 10 ships in the Strait of Hormuz, including two US vessels. Jordan's military says its air defence systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles launched toward its territory. Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has fired ballistic missiles at a base in Jordan used by the US military and attacked 10 ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in a sharp escalation of the six-month-old war. The Americans said they destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday. The US military's Central Command has posted video of the strikes, which it called a response to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeting a US Navy warship twice with ballistic missiles over the previous two days. No Americans were harmed, the US said. "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," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia. Iran then carried out a ballistic missile attack on a base used by US forces near Al Azraq in Jordan, according to an IRGC statement on state media. Although Iran said its missiles inflicted heavy damage, Jordan said its air defences intercepted 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles, with two falling in unpopulated areas with no casualties. A US official said Iran's strikes in Jordan were ineffective and all American troops were accounted for. The IRGC said on Wednesday, local time, it also attacked 10 ships, including two US vessels and eight oil tankers, attempting to cross a "prohibited and unsafe" area of the Strait of Hormuz. Both the US 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. Iran has targeted US assets and allies in the region throughout the war, including in Jordan several times, killing at least two US military personnel during one strike in July. Iran has also threatened oil tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, according to a statement carried by state media. A maritime security source has reported a liquefied natural gas tanker was damaged in the Emirati port of Khor Fakkan, though it was unclear who was responsible. Oil prices extended gains in early trade on Wednesday with Brent crude nearing $US100 a barrel on market concerns over the disruption of oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Recent attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on top energy producer Saudi Arabia have added to supply concerns. The US strikes on Tuesday came as Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had captured a US uncrewed submarine at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. In response, a Pentagon spokesperson said an underwater drone had "malfunctioned more than a day ago". "It was surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations. The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment," the spokesperson said.