WASHINGTON /TEHRAN: The United States and Iran traded fire in the Gulf on Wednesday as US forces destroyed 10 Iranian oil tankers in a bid to cripple the Revolutionary Guards’ ‘illicit funding network’, and Iran’s military responded by launching missile strikes against two American destroyers, eight tankers and 10 other ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to all sides to “exercise utmost restraint” and avoid inflaming the already volatile situation in and near the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump on Wednesday predicted that the war with Iran will end “immediately after” the U.S. midterm elections in November because Tehran was trying to influence the vote but would not be able to hold out more in the face of U.S. economic pressure.
“I think war is going to end immediately after the election because they can’t hold out any longer. They’re desperate to try and affect the election,” he told reporters before departing for the Republican National Convention in Dallas.
US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement that US forces had destroyed 10 Iranian oil tankers over the past week. “Our forces destroyed 10 Iranian oil tankers over the past week.”
The command said the 10 tankers were part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that finances Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Centcom also said claims by the IRGC that it had targeted two US Navy destroyers in the Middle East were “completely false.”
Washington has announced a new policy of attacking Iranian tankers in retaliation for fire that threatens its warships.
“Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia.
The IRGC, meanwhile, announced that its Aerospace Force targeted two US vessels, eight oil tankers and ten violating ships attempting to pass through the restricted and unsafe zone of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Revolutionary Guards said they would sharply escalate their response to any further attacks, hitting 20 targets if the enemy struck two or three.
In a statement issued early Wednesday, the IRGC said, in response to the latest US attacks on five Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, the IRGC Navy targeted two American vessels and eight oil tankers, inflicting significant damage.
It added that ten violating ships, which attempted to cross the “restricted and unsafe” zone of the Strait of Hormuz with the encouragement and support of the US terrorist military, were also targeted.
The statement stressed that the Strait of Hormuz remains firmly and decisively under the surveillance and control of the capable and valiant IRGC Navy.
The IRGC also said on Wednesday it had fired ballistic missiles at a base used by US forces near Al Azraq, in eastern Jordan. Jordan said its air defences had intercepted 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles, with two falling harmlessly in unpopulated areas. A US official said Iran’s strikes in Jordan were ineffective and all American troops were accounted for.
IRGC chief commander advisor Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif said if the enemy continues its aggression and miscalculations against Iran, it should expect more unprecedented Iranian responses that will again alter the region’s strategic dynamics in the country’s favour.
On Wednesday, Sharif lauded the seizure of an unmanned American submarine in the strategic Strait of Hormuz a day earlier.
He described this action as a turning point in bringing the Strait of Hormuz into regional power equations and considered it a strategic and deterrent weapon at the disposal of Iran.
The entire region is under the precise, comprehensive and real-time surveillance and intelligence dominance of the powerful Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he stressed.
The adversaries, particularly the US and Israel, may resort to warmongering and sabotage in an attempt to undermine Iran, but they must come to terms with the fact that they have no choice but to accept the realities imposed on the battlefield, he said.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi mocked Washington’s decision to resort to more sanctions against Tehran after failing to achieve its objectives through decades of sanctions and war.
In a post on his ‘X’ account, Araqchi said that after 47 years of sanctions and failing to achieve its aims through war, the US has resorted to a “novel” solution to impose more sanctions, sarcastically questioning the rationale behind the move.
“After 47 years of sanctions, the US went to war with Iran on behalf of Israel. The fallout has been disastrous for America, including its standing worldwide,” he said.
“After failing to achieve its aims through sanctions or war, Washington’s ‘novel’ solution is…more sanctions. Seriously?” Araqchi added.
His comments came after the Trump administration on Tuesday announced new sanctions targeting all Iranian airlines and nearly a dozen foreign companies accused of doing business with Mahan Air, which Washington had previously sanctioned.
Meanwhile, IRGC spokesperson Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi said that the United States lacks the ability to maintain its presence in the region, noting that the Strait of Hormuz has become a determining factor in the global order and that Iran exercises effective control and authority over the waterway by relying on its geographical, operational and military capabilities.
Speaking at a ceremony on Wednesday, Brigadier General Mohebbi emphasised the Iran’s power and control over the Strait of Hormuz, saying the armed forces’ capability to monitor, identify and strike enemy equipment and vessels is part of this strategic power.
Referring to the reduced presence of US warships in the Persian Gulf, the spokesperson said that while around 30 to 40 US warships had been deployed in the region before the recent conflict, most of them are now hundreds of kilometers away from Iran’s shores.
Mohebbi said that Iran’s new weapons and missiles have enabled it to strike enemy equipment at long ranges, increasing the cost of the US military presence and operations in the region.
He also said that the United States has suffered severe attrition in terms of personnel and equipment, including psychological effects, making its continued military presence in the region difficult and costly.
The IRGC spokesperson said that a new “prohibited zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz would cover parts of the Gulf of Oman and beyond, adding they would announce the exact coordinates later.
“It approximately starts from the direction of Chabahar, covering part of the Sea of Oman and another part of the Arabian Sea,” Mohebbi told state television. “If a vessel enters that area without coordination, it will be subject to our sanctions.”
Iran would soon release maps of a new, enlarged off-limits zone at sea that would extend as far as Chabahar on the far reaches of Iran’s coast near Pakistan, the Guards said.
The IRGC spokesperson said that the country’s ongoing conflict with the US could be brought to a close if Washington halts its threats and agrees to a set of conditions, including guarantees that Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes will not be interfered with.
Mohebbi laid out the terms in a statement carried by the semi-official Fars news agency, framing them as the price of ending hostilities between the two countries.
According to Mohebi, any resolution would require the United States to completely halt the war and refrain from renewed threats against Iran. He said Washington must also secure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and end what Tehran describes as a blockade of Yemen.
The spokesman said Iran was also demanding the release of $24 billion in its assets that remain frozen, and he insisted that the US refrain from any interference in the country’s nuclear and missile capabilities.
“If the enemy wants an end to this situation, it must, while completely stopping the war, refrain from renewed threats,” Mohebi said, according to Fars.
Meanwhile, military operations in Yemen intensified on Wednesday with clashes expanding across several fronts, according to reports by Saudi-owned news channels Al Arabiya and Al Hadath.
Yemen’s armed forced said on Wednesday that they had launched a large-scale operation in southern Maareb.
The Yemeni armed forces reported that fighting with the Iran-backed Houthi militia has been continuing on the Taiz fronts of Toil and Al-Barah, and claim to have inflicted heavy losses on the group.
Al Arabiya and Al Hadath have reported that Yemeni government forces have captured areas in southern Maareb, as well as several positions in the northern and southern sectors.
The forces have also reportedly captured new positions and villages on the Al-Kaddah front west of Taiz during an operation against the Houthis.
The offensive was accompanied by heavy clashes, artillery fire and airstrikes targeting Houthi positions, gatherings and reinforcements in the area.
Al Arabiya and Al Hadath sources also said the Yemeni armed forces had launched a counterattack against Houthi positions on the Meris front north of Al-Dhale Governorate.
The sources also reported that Yemeni military aircraft had carried out several airstrikes on the Houthi-held Helan Mountains west of Maareb.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) board of governors on Wednesday voted to refer Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear “non-compliance” in a diplomatic move to pile pressure on the Islamic republic.
The IAEA has not had access to key nuclear facilities in Iran since Israel, joined by the United States, launched a 12-day conflict in June 2025 that included strikes on nuclear sites.
Nuclear facilities have also been hit in the latest war, which erupted on Feb 28, and the IAEA has repeatedly urged it be given access.
The resolution, seen by AFP, was adopted by 23 votes in favour, three votes against and eight abstentions, two diplomats told AFP. Russia, China and Niger voted against it.
It “requests the (IAEA) director general to report” Iran to the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations.
The resolution, submitted by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, marks the first time Iran has been referred to the Security Council in 20 years for failing to comply with its nuclear reporting obligations.
Meanwhile, the global price of oil topped $100 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since July, as continued tensions between Iran and the US added to uncertainty over future supply.
Brent crude oil prices, a benchmark for global trading, climbed about 2.7 percent, trading at about $100.57 a barrel for contracts with November deliveries. US oil traded at about $95 a barrel, up by about 2 percent.
