Iran claims strikes on US-linked vessels and oil tankers amid escalating tensions

A screen grab from video footage released by US Central Command on Sunday shows one of the Iranian oil tankers it destroyed. PIC/AFP

Iran's aerospace forces attacked an aircraft carrier and a destroyer of the US military with several ballistic missiles after the vessels harassed Iranian ships and participated in the naval blockade against the country, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Sunday.

The two military vessels fled the conflict zone after suffering damage, the IRGC said in a statement. It warned that if the "hostile and aggressive" actions continue, the US government must await "formidable" responses from the Iranian armed forces.

On Saturday night, the IRGC's navy said it had targeted three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and three US-affiliated vessels elsewhere in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian tankers earlier in the day, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The three tankers struck in the strait were crossing the waterway via an "unauthorised" route, the navy said in a statement, adding that the other three vessels were hit in other regions.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever