+++ News in the Iran War +++: USA destroys five Iranian oil tankers

The US military says it has destroyed five Iranian oil tankers. This was preceded by several attempts by Iran to attack a US warship with ballistic missiles in the past two days, the Centcom regional command responsible for the Middle East announced on Tuesday (local time). The warship was able to avoid the attacks and continue its patrol. No US personnel were injured.

According to Centcom, the destroyed tankers were the "Kivik", the "Charminar", the "Horizon 1" and the "Riesco" in the Gulf of Oman as well as the "Derya" near the island of Kharg in the Strait of Hormuz. The crews were asked to abandon their ships before the attacks.

Iranian state television also reported US attacks on at least three tankers. Accordingly, ships were hit near the southern port of Jask and the island of Kharg. The crews were evacuated. A reporter also reported another explosion near the coast of Jekbeni, the cause of which was initially unclear. (ap)

Iran fired missiles at US targets in Jordan in response to the attacks, according to Iranian state media. The Jordanian military said its air defense intercepted 18 ballistic missiles. Two more fell in uninhabited areas. There are no reports of injuries or deaths.

The US military had already attacked three Iranian oil tankers over the weekend. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard had previously targeted a US aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer, it was said at the time. (ap)

Jordan has reported shooting down 18 missiles fired from Iran. The Jordanian air defense systems intercepted “20 ballistic missiles that were fired into Jordanian territory,” the Jordanian army said on Wednesday. Of these, 18 rockets were “successfully intercepted and destroyed”. Two rockets hit uninhabited areas. The missiles therefore came from Iran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards had previously declared that they had attacked a US base in Jordan. The Iranian news agency Irna reported that the Revolutionary Guards "hit the al-Asrak air base used by the US military in Jordan with massive rocket attacks" as "punishment" for US attacks on Iranian oil tankers.

Tehran also announced retaliatory attacks on oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain following US attacks on its ships. “We warn all oil tankers in the ports of Kuwait and Bahrain that harbor these terrorists and are complicit in their evil deeds,” the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement published by Irna early Wednesday morning. The crews therefore called on them to abandon the ships. The ships would be attacked regardless of whether they were “at anchor or at the harbor”. The military confrontation between the USA and Iran flared up again at the end of August and has intensified significantly since then. (afp)

Iran has captured a US underwater drone, according to state television. The Navy seized the unmanned vehicle “as loot” on Tuesday at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, it said.

The spokesman for the US regional command Centcom, responsible for the Middle East, Tim Hawkins, admitted that the US military was no longer in possession of the Anduril Dive-LD drone. This malfunctioned during an operation in the area more than a day ago. It was a defective, older model that “neither collected sensitive data nor had secret sonar or radar equipment on board.” "It was in commercial grade condition. So we're not worried," Hawkins said. (ap)

The US has imposed sanctions on several key airlines as part of its war against Iran. The US Treasury Department published new punitive measures against state-owned and private airlines on Tuesday, increasing pressure on Iran's aviation sector. 27 Iranian airlines have been added to the US sanctions list, including the well-known companies Kish Airlines, Iran Air Tour and ATA Airlines.

Several of Iran's largest airlines, including Mahan Air, Iran Air and Meraj Air, have previously been on US sanctions lists. What is new is that Washington is now taking much broader action against the entire aviation sector. The new measures cover a significantly larger share of Iranian air traffic. Foreign companies and banks also face consequences if they continue doing business with the affected airlines.

The sanctions are also likely to have an impact on travelers. Foreign booking platforms and payment service providers could withdraw from the affected airlines out of fear of US sanctions, thereby making it more difficult to purchase tickets. International airlines have been avoiding connections to Iran since the Iranian war broke out at the end of February. Anyone who wants to travel to Tehran recently flew into the country with Iranian airlines via Istanbul or Dubai. (dpa)