DUBAI/CAIRO, Sept. 8 (Reuters) - The Middle East war intensified on Tuesday with Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen launching strikes on several Saudi cities, further embroiling a U.S. ally in the conflict, while U.S. forces hit multiple Iranian oil tankers and Iran targeted a U.S. base in Jordan.
The Houthis attacked four cities in the south of Saudi Arabia, wounding 73 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a major expansion of the six-month-old war.
As global oil markets were pricing in the Saudi attacks, the U.S. military's Central Command said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers on Tuesday and posted video of the strikes, which it called a response to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeting a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the previous two days. No Americans were harmed, the U.S. said.
"Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia.
Iran then retaliated with a ballistic missile attack on a U.S. base near Al Azraq in Jordan, according to an IRGC statement carried on state media. Iranian state media published video of what it said were Iranian missiles launched at Jordan.
Although Iran said its missiles inflicted heavy damage, Jordan said its air defences intercepted 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles, with two falling in unpopulated areas, and that there were no casualties.
Iran has targeted U.S. allies in the region throughout the war, including Jordan several times, killing two U.S. military personnel during one strike in July.
A separate IRGC statement said it also attacked two U.S. destroyers, state media reported. The U.S. military had yet to respond to the reports.
Iran also threatened to target oil tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, according to a statement carried by state media. A maritime security source reported a liquefied natural gas tanker was damaged in the Emirati port of Khor Fakkan, though it was unclear who was responsible.
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