Middle East live: US destroys five Iranian oil tankers as Iran threatens Kuwait and Bahrain
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By: FRANCE 24 US military forces strike an Iranian crude oil tanker, M/T Downy, off the coast of Kharg Island on September 5, 2026. © Centom, AFP US forces destroyed five Iranian oil carriers on Tuesday after Tehran launched ballistic missiles at an American warship twice in recent days. Iran also launched strikes on US targets in Jordan, and threatened attacks on oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday it had captured a US uncrewed submarine at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state media said the vessel was a Dive-LD, a large autonomous underwater vehicle built by California defense firm Anduril. The 5.8-metre submersible can carry out missions including mine countermeasures, seabed mapping, intelligence gathering and the inspection of underwater infrastructure such as cables and pipelines, the company has said.
"We trapped one of the most modern, intelligent and unmanned submarines of the terrorist American army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. This submersible is equipped with the latest technologies," the Revolutionary Guards Navy said in a statement carried by Iranian state media.
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.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they attacked two US vessels and eight oil tankers in the Gulf in response to what they called a US attack on five Iranian tankers, Iranian state media reported, citing a statement from the group.
The group said it attacked 10 ships attempting to cross what it described as a "prohibited and unsafe" area of the Strait of Hormuz.
Six commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, down from nine a day earlier and below the 10-day average of about 12, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday.
The figures could change as some ships typically switch off their transponders during the voyage.
Of the six vessels, five were entering and one was exiting, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed at 0200 GMT. They included one Panamax and one intermediate tanker.
Oil prices jumped for the fourth straight session, gaining more than $1 in early trade on Wednesday after Iran launched fresh attacks on US military assets in the Gulf as the war between Washington and Tehran continued to spill out across the region.
Brent crude futures rose $1.57, or 1.6%, to $99.49 a barrel by 0001 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $94.63 a barrel, up $1.60, or 1.72%.
Brent crude prices have jumped by a quarter since early August as hopes for a permanent resolution to the six-month-old war faded and as fighting flared again.
Jordan's air-defence systems have destroyed 18 of 20 ballistic missiles originating from Iranian territory, the state news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the armed forces.
Two missiles fell in unpopulated areas and there were no casualties, the news agency reported the military as saying.
Monitoring and assessment operations were continuing, the agency reported.
Iran said early Wednesday it would target oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for US strikes on its vessels, urging crews to leave their ships, according to the IRNA state news agency.
"We warn all oil tankers in the Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, which host these terrorists and are partners in their evils, whether they are anchored or docked – we warn them to leave their vessels because they will be targeted," Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement posted on IRNA.
Iran has launched missiles towards US targets in Jordan, Iranian state-run media said, following the latest American strikes.
It’s the latest tit-for-tat retaliation after the US military said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers following two attacks on a US warship by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard over the past two days.
US Central Command, when asked about the strikes on the Jordanian airbase, said it had no information to offer.
The Iranian tankers destroyed in the attack were the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1 and the Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, Central Command said. The US military also destroyed the vessel Derya, which was located near Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Central Command said the crews of the five vessels were told to abandoned ship before the attacks.
US forces destroyed five Iranian oil carriers on Tuesday after Tehran launched ballistic missiles at an American warship twice in recent days, the US military said.
"American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable," US Central Command said in a statement, adding the strikes were "in response to Iran's most recent failed attacks."
US military says it struck 3 Iranian oil tankers after missile attacks Middle East Trump says Iran war is 'small potatoes', Israel strikes southern Lebanon As it happened Middle East Most read
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