Tehran threatens vessels in Bahrain, Kuwait after US strikes Iranian tankers near Kharg Island

By Zachary Cohen, Hira Humayun, CNN

(CNN) — The US targeted multiple Iranian tankers near Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, according to two US officials.

One of the officials said US forces struck the Iranian tankers tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in response to attempted missile attacks on a US Navy warship.

The strikes come as the US has focused its strategy in the war to prioritize striking or disabling targets around the strait, conducting escort operations for commercial vessels through the key waterway and maintaining its naval blockade on Iranian ports as part of a “full court press” to ramp up economic pressure on the regime’s leadership.

Iran has vowed to retaliate by targeting oil tankers near Bahraini and Kuwaiti ports.

“We warn all crews aboard oil tankers in the vicinity of ports in Kuwait and Bahrain — which host these (American) terrorists and are partners in their hostile actions — to immediately leave their vessels, whether they are at anchor or docked at the ports, as the vessels will be targeted,” state broadcaster IRIB quoted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as saying.

One of the Iranian tankers hit Tuesday was four miles from Kharg — an island in the Persian Gulf that acts as a hub for Iranian oil exports — according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency. State broadcaster IRIB said a second tanker was hit off the coast of Jask and that the crews of both vessels were being taken ashore in lifeboats.

Syrian state TV later reported that Iranian missiles were seen heading toward neighboring Jordan and being intercepted.

The latest strikes come after US forces targeted an Iranian tanker about six miles from Kharg Island at the weekend.

As part of the US’s pressure campaign on Tehran, the Trump administration also took sweeping actions against Iran’s airline industry on Tuesday. The sanctions affect 27 Iranian airlines and nine service providers and sales agents accused of providing services to Mahan Air, which has been sanctioned since 2011. The private airline is accused of providing key support to the IRGC.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Yasha Saebi contributed reporting.