IRGC claims heavy damage to US warships, oil tankers in Persian Gulf

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced early Wednesday that its naval forces had targeted and heavily damaged two US warships and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. The operation was described as retaliation for a US attack on five Iranian tankers.

The IRGC statement added that ten other vessels attempting to transit a restricted navigation area in the Strait of Hormuz, allegedly with US encouragement, were also struck. Earlier, the Guards said they had successfully hit the US Navy destroyers DDG-119 and DDG-53, inflicting what they termed "heavy damage on the enemy."

Iranian sources also reported that the IRGC had attacked a US military base in Jordan on Wednesday. Separately, Iranian media noted explosions late Tuesday night in parts of Kharg Island in southern Iran and in the southern area of Jask.

The US Central Command, in a social media post on Tuesday, said American forces had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers following an Iranian attack on a US warship. The US military reported that the IRGC had launched ballistic missile attacks against a US Navy warship twice over the preceding two days. The warship evaded the attacks, and no US personnel were injured.

In response, US forces destroyed four IRGC-affiliated oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and a fifth near Kharg Island.