Washington: The US military said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to the latest attacks on its warships, prompting Tehran to hit back at American targets in Jordan in the latest burst of back-and-forth strikes that have lurched the sides back towards open hostilities in a more than six-month-old war.

Following the American strikes, Iran launched missiles towards US targets in Jordan, Iranian state-run media said. Jordan’s military stated its air defence systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles launched towards its territory and two others fell in unpopulated areas. It reported no casualties. Jordan is a staunch US ally that hosts American forces, making the kingdom’s military bases a target of repeat Iranian strikes. US Central Command said it had no information to offer.

The latest strikes form part of a dual economic and military approach by President Donald Trump as he struggles to bring an end to the war. The Trump administration on Tuesday also imposed sanctions on additional elements of Iran’s aviation industry, targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers, in its new push to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners.

Both the US and Iran are seeking to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war began. Rising energy prices are posing political problems for Mr Trump and his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections. A barrel of international benchmark Brent crude briefly climbed as high as $99.46 on Tuesday.

US forces also destroyed three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard tried to attack a US aircraft carrier and destroyer with ballistic missiles, warning that it would, "if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet." Iran later said it planned to announce a new "exclusion zone" near the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels intending to transit.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US will not allow Iran’s attacks to go unanswered.

"Iran continues to try to hit U.S. 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,"Rubio told reporters Tuesday when asked about the latest attacks in Iran whilst on a trip to Colombia.

Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, warned that such retaliatory strikes risk further impact to the global economy.

"There is no kinetic solution to the Strait of Hormuz problem," he said on social media. "Every attempt to impose one only brings Washington and Tehran closer to an escalation that may become increasingly difficult to control."

US Central Command stated its forces struck the tankers on Tuesday after the Revolutionary Guard targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days.

"The U.S. warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed," it said in a statement.

It stated the Iranian tankers destroyed on Tuesday were the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1 and Riesco in the Gulf of Oman. US forces also destroyed the vessel Derya, which was located near Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The statement added that crews of the five vessels were told to abandon ship before the attacks.

Iranian state television confirmed the US strikes, reporting that US forces attacked Iranian oil tankers near the southern port of Jask and near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, and that crews had been evacuated. An Iranian state TV reporter in Jask stated an Iranian tanker was struck near the coast of Yekbeni. State TV later reported that a second tanker was attacked in waters off Jask, with another targeted in the Kharg Island anchorage area.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy on Tuesday warned crews of oil tankers near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately leave their vessels, saying the ships could be targeted in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian tankers. It accused Kuwait and Bahrain of hosting US forces and assisting in the strikes.

A US blockade of Iranian ports has squeezed the country’s economy by limiting its oil exports, whilst the American military has been helping a limited number of ships transit on a route through the Strait of Hormuz off Oman. Tehran wants ships to follow a route of its own choosing through the strait, which was considered an international waterway before the war. (AP)