The USA bombs five Iranian oil tankers and Tehran responds with attacks in Jordan

WashingtonThe United States announced this Tuesday the destruction of five Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island in retaliation for Tehran's alleged attempts to attack one of the US Navy's ships in a new episode of hostilities between the two countries after the conflict escalated again last week. In retaliation, the ayatollahs responded to the sinking of the ships by launching "heavy missiles" against a US base in Jordan. In a statement, the US military command detailed that it "ordered the crews to abandon the ships before firing on them." It also stated that the attack comes two days after an American military vessel evaded a missile attack by the Revolutionary Guard, without suffering any casualties.

The Iranian response was in the form of a missile attack against a US military base in Jordan. Jordanian air defense systems were able to intercept 18 of the 20 ballistic missiles launched from Iran and the other two impacted in unpopulated areas without causing any injuries. The Revolutionary Guard also claimed that it had attacked two US military vessels and eight oil tankers in the Gulf, after having alerted their crews, near the ports of Kuwait and Bahrain.

After a month of August of relative calm and despite the White House insisting that it is focusing on economic warfare to topple Iran, in recent weeks the clashes have only escalated. More than half a year after the US President, Donald Trump, started the war, and two months after the diplomatic fiasco in Versailles, where a ceasefire was announced to give space to diplomacy, the conflict remains deadlocked. Oil prices have risen back to July levels to one hundred dollars a barrel in Asian markets.

The new episode comes after Washington and Tehran were involved in another episode of crossfire last week where US forces bombed the south of the country. Subsequently, the Iranians accused the US of having committed "war crimes" after one of its missiles killed four people at a wedding that was being held in the south of the country. According to Iranian media, among the four dead at the wedding being held in Sirik were a 4-year-old boy, Amir-Ali Karimi, and a 16-year-old teenager, Mohammad Mollahi.

Meanwhile, the southern regional front is also heating up. On Tuesday, Yemen's Houthi movement, an ally of Iran, attacked four cities in Saudi Arabia, resulting in more than 70 injured and damage to several oil facilities; Riyadh has said it will respond.