Iran says it hit US base in Jordan; 18 missiles downed

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they fired missiles at the US Al-Azraq air base in Jordan in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian oil tankers, while Jordan's army said it shot down 18 missiles from Iran.

Jordan's army said its air defences engaged 20 missiles, destroyed 18 and that two fell in unpopulated areas. Iranian state media agency IRNA reported that the Guards described the attack as a punitive operation and said it damaged maintenance and repair facilities, deployment locations and fighter jet shelters.

There was no independent confirmation in the supplied material that the base was hit, and no confirmed information on casualties.

The strike came after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday. The US military said it directed the crews to abandon ship before hitting the vessels, and said the action followed Iranian attempts to target an American warship.

Iranian media reported that a US missile struck a tanker off Kharg Island and said there were no casualties. Iran's army chief of staff Ali Abdollahi had warned that Tehran would hit US bases in the region if Iranian oil tankers were attacked.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards also warned crews on oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels, saying the tankers would be targeted. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Colombia that Iran would continue to lose tankers if it tried to hit US naval ships.

Oil prices rose as the war threatened supply from the Middle East. Brent crude reached $99.38 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate stood at $94.51.

Iran has largely controlled the Strait of Hormuz since the war began in February, leaving traffic through the waterway virtually paralysed. The strait normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

The Revolutionary Guards also said Tuesday they had seized an American unmanned submarine drone in the Strait of Hormuz. The US military said the drone had malfunctioned, was an older model and carried no sensitive data.