US warns Iran it will lose tankers if it targets American warships

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday warned Tehran that the United States will continue to strike Iranian oil tankers in response to attempts to attack American warships.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Colombia, Rubio said, "Iran continues its attempts to strike US Navy vessels, and every time it does so or tries to, it will lose oil tankers."

Earlier on Tuesday evening, US Central Command announced that American forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers on September 8, after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice in two days.

Central Command said the US warship successfully evaded the Iranian attacks and that no American personnel were harmed. The incident follows previous US strikes on Iranian oil tankers in response to IRGC attacks on American naval vessels.