Iran Strikes Back Amid Gulf Tensions After US Tanker Attacks

On Tuesday the Middle East saw another round of fire‑power that pulled more regional players into an already tangled war. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it hit a U.S. base near Al‑Azraq in Jordan with ballistic missiles, just hours after the U.S. Central Command released footage of five Iranian crude tankers being blown apart.

The American strikes were presented as a direct response to what the Pentagon described as two recent attempts by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to target a U.S. Navy warship with missiles. No American service members were injured, but the message was clear: keep trying, and you’ll keep losing ships.

Iran, for its part, claimed the Jordanian missiles caused “heavy damage,” even as Jordan’s military reported that its air‑defences intercepted 18 of the 20 projectiles, with the two that fell doing no harm to civilians. The exchange underscores a pattern that has become all too familiar – tit‑for‑tat attacks that draw in U.S. allies and keep the region on edge.

Adding fuel to the fire, Yemeni Houthi rebels – backed by Tehran – launched a broad drone and missile operation deep into Saudi Arabia’s southern provinces. Four cities – Khamis Mushait, Abha, Najran and Jazan – saw oil installations set ablaze, and 73 people, including women and children, were wounded.

Satellite images from NASA showed thick black smoke over the Jazan refinery and a column of white plume rising from an oil distribution centre in Abha, visual proof of the damage. Saudi officials said the attacks were among the most severe since the coalition’s direct confrontation with Iran in February.

Beyond the battlefield, Iran warned it could target oil tankers docking in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports. A separate report noted a liquefied natural gas tanker was damaged at the Emirati port of Khor Fakkan, though the culprit remains unconfirmed.

These skirmishes have nudged Brent crude futures up another dollar, briefly touching the highest level seen since late July, but prices have stayed below the $100‑a‑barrel mark. The market’s nervousness reflects the broader economic ripple – any disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz or the Red Sea threatens global supply chains.

For now, the Gulf remains a chessboard where the U.S. tries to keep oil moving while tightening a maritime blockade on Tehran, and Iran keeps reminding its foes that it can still strike back, whether at ships, airfields or oil facilities.