Iran strongly condemned the United States, claiming that the US attacked Iranian oil tankers. The Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that the US action was a violation of international law and part of military provocation and economic warfare against Iran. Iran claimed that it retaliated against the US attack on its merchant ships by striking US military bases in Jordan and US warships. Iran warned that it would continue to exercise its legitimate right to self-defense against future US military provocations. The United States announced that it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for an attack by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on a US warship.
