The United States Central Command, CENTCOM, said on Tuesday evening that it had attacked five Iranian oil tankers in response to two IRGC attempts to target a US naval vessel with ballistic missiles.

According to CENTCOM, the US vessel evaded the Iranian attacks and continued patrolling regional waters. CENTCOM added that no US personnel were injured.

“Responding to Iran’s latest failed attacks, CENTCOM destroyed the tankers Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1 and Risco in the Gulf of Oman, as well as the tanker Darya near Khark Island,” the statement said. “US forces ordered the crews to abandon the tankers before targeting and disabling the vessels.”

CENTCOM added: “Iran has used these tankers as part of a covert multibillion-dollar network that finances the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its regional proxies. Iran has no means of defending these vessels.”

CENTCOM also released images showing that the tanker Risco sank after being targeted by the US military.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “Iran has attempted to target US Navy ships. Every time it makes such an attempt, it will lose oil tankers.”

IRGC: We targeted two US vessels, eight tankers and 10 ships

In a statement early on Wednesday, the IRGC said it had targeted two US vessels, eight tankers and 10 ships in response to the US attack on five Iranian oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf. The IRGC claimed the vessels sustained extensive damage.

The IRGC claimed the 10 ships had sought, “at the instigation of the United States”, to pass through a “prohibited and unsafe zone” in the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC describes a route near Oman’s coast, which the US uses to guide ships through the waterway, as “unsafe” and has repeatedly fired on vessels travelling along it.

The statement said the Strait of Hormuz was “under the surveillance and control” of the IRGC Navy.

Hours earlier, the IRGC had said in a statement that it had targeted two US destroyers equipped with cruise missiles and Aegis systems.

“In response to the US military’s actions against and harassment of Iranian tankers and vessels, the IRGC Aerospace Force, in an operation to punish the aggressor, attacked the DDG-119 and DDG-53 combat destroyers, equipped with cruise missiles and Aegis systems, using ballistic missiles,” the statement said.

The IRGC claimed the destroyers sustained “significant damage” in the attack.

Minutes earlier, the IRGC had also said that, in response to US attacks on Iranian tankers, it used “solid- and liquid-fuel ballistic missiles” to target maintenance and preparation hangars, deployment areas for F-35, F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, and shelters for US aircraft at Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan.

Social media users had earlier reported missile launches from several Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Khomein, Khorramabad and Yazd.

Jordanian military: 18 Iranian missiles intercepted, two landed in uninhabited areas

Jordan’s air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 18 of 20 missiles launched by Iran early on Wednesday, the Jordan News Agency reported, citing the country’s military.

According to the Jordanian military, the other two missiles landed in uninhabited areas, causing no casualties.