Updated

The US military struck and destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers in what it said was a response to the IRGC targeting a US warship twice in two days. Iran retaliated by launching a ballistic missile barrage at Jordan, which Jordanian air defences intercepted, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard urged tanker crews in Kuwait and Bahrain to abandon their vessels, warning it would target ships in the region following the US strikes. The escalation marks a sharp intensification of the ongoing Iran war, with Washington also imposing new sanctions targeting Iran's aviation sector as part of a broader campaign to isolate Tehran economically. The exchange of strikes raises fears of a wider regional conflagration, threatening shipping lanes, US regional allies, and complicating efforts at diplomatic de-escalation.