The China Mail - Iran, US trade blows as Hormuz impasse deepens

Tehran's powerful Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they attacked 20 US vessels trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world's oil and gas that Iran has largely controlled since the war erupted.

The United States and Iran are locked in a stalemate six months into the war, with Iran maintaining a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz and Washington pushing a campaign to choke Iran's ports and economy.

The Guards said Wednesday they pummelled a US military base in Jordan in response to US forces destroying five Iranian oil tankers the day before.

The US military said it acted after Iran targeted an American warship, the second such attack in less than a week.

Oil prices climbed to near $100 a barrel in Asian morning trade, as the flare-up threatened to further choke supply from the crude-rich Middle East.

The price of Brent crude, the benchmark international contract, rose to $99.46 per barrel, while the main US contract West Texas Intermediate was at $94.45 per barrel.

The Islamic republic also said it would target oil tankers off US-allied Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for the US strikes on its tankers.

Minutes later, Iran's Revolutionary Guards -- the most powerful arm of the Iranian military -- said they had struck the US air base of Al-Azraq in Jordan with missiles, state media reported.

The "punitive operation" damaged maintenance and repair facilities, deployment locations and shelters for fighter jets, according to IRNA.

Jordan's army said it shot down 18 missiles from Iran targeting the kingdom.

The strikes came after Tehran urged crews on oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels, warning they "will be targeted", the Guards said in a statement posted on IRNA.

- US warning -

The latest round of fighting was triggered after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, with the US military saying it "directed the crews to abandon ship" before hitting the vessels.

"Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers, and I think you'll see that again today," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday on a visit to Colombia.

Iranian media reported Tuesday that a US missile struck a tanker off the coast of Kharg Island, adding that there were no casualties.

The chief of staff of Iran's army Ali Abdollahi had warned the Islamic republic would hit US bases in the region if Iranian oil tankers were hit.

Iran has asserted control of the Strait of Hormuz -- which normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas -- since the start of the war in February, with traffic through the waterway virtually paralysed.

Tehran requires vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before using the strait.

Iran's Guards also said on Tuesday they seized "one of the most modern, unmanned" American submarine drone in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military said that the drone had "malfunctioned", insisting it was an "older model" that did not carry any sensitive data.

Iranian state TV also said the Guards had attacked two US destroyers with ballistic missiles.

The US military did not immediately comment on the report.

U.Feng--ThChM