Iran and U.S. hit tankers in biggest wave of attacks on shipping since war began

Multiple American military aircraft experienced damage from Iranian strikes overnight at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, according to CBS reporter Jennifer Jacobs. One A-10 Thunderbolt, colloquially known as the Warthog, suffered a missing wing while approximately eight F-15s sustained minor damage and were later returned to service.

In response to the attacks, American forces deployed over thirty Patriot missiles to defend against the Iranian strikes. This recent damage follows a US attack on five Iranian tankers, which Iran retaliated by allegedly targeting eight tankers and two warships, including the base in Jordan. US Central Command confirmed that no US Navy warships were hit and that all Iranian attacks on these vessels failed.

Over the past week, the US has reportedly destroyed ten Iranian tankers, part of a multi-billion-dollar network that finances the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Tensions between the US and Iran escalated in late August following a US attack on two Iranian launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most strategically vital shipping lane.

Iran claimed that the strike resulted in casualties among Revolutionary Guards and civilians, prompting a retaliatory ballistic missile and drone attack on two US bases in Jordan. Iran also claimed to have seized an American submarine drone in the Strait of Hormuz, which the US has blockaded in the conflict. On September 8, Iran announced the seizure, and later that day, US Central Command released a video showing what the US military described as a strike on an Iranian tanker in the Gulf of Oman.

Despite ongoing hostilities, the US and Iran remain in a stalemate, with Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz and Washington pushing a campaign to choke Iran's ports and economy. The conflict has now dragged on for six months, with Iran maintaining a blockade of the strategic waterway that carries about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas exports.