Iran destroys US oil tanker, claims revenge for sinking of warship off Sri Lanka coast

Tehran: Iran is furious with the US over the sinking of a warship off the Sri Lankan coast. The US attacked an Iranian warship returning from India and sank it in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday. Several Iranian citizens were killed in the attack. Enraged by this, Iran took swift revenge on Thursday.

What steps have Iran taken against US?

Iranian state television claimed that Iran had launched a major missile attack on an American oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. This is Iran's latest attack on the energy industry in the region. Following the attack, the oil tanker caught fire.

According to reports, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on state television that the ship was hit by a missile in the northern Persian Gulf and is currently on fire. However, the US has not yet confirmed this incident. Iran has completely controlled the Strait of Hormuz and has not allowed anyone other than Chinese ships to pass through. Iran has previously attacked several other oil tankers.

What is happening in the Middle East?

Earlier, Iran launched a new wave of attacks on Israeli and US bases on Thursday morning, threatening that the US would regret its torpedoing of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. A religious leader called for Trump's blood, while Israel said it had launched a massive attack on Tehran. Israel announced several incoming missile strikes, and air sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Iranian state television said further attacks also targeted US bases. The Israeli military said it carried out targeted strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, which is leading a wave of attacks on infrastructure in the Iranian capital, but did not provide further details. Explosions were heard in several locations in Tehran shortly afterward.

The US Navy sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday night, killing at least 87 Iranian sailors, in what Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described as an atrocity at sea on Thursday. The US and Israel launched a war on Saturday, targeting Iran's leadership and killing Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The war has so far killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, more than 70 in Lebanon, and about a dozen in Israel, according to officials. It has disrupted global oil and gas supplies, disrupted international shipping, and stranded millions of travelers in the Middle East.