Iran launched fresh attacks against US targets in the Middle East on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian oil tankers, dragging the foes deeper into war.Tehran's powerful Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they attacked 20 US vessels trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world's oil and gas that Iran has largely controlled since the war erupted.The United States and Iran are locked in a stalemate six months into the war, with Iran maintaining a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz and Washington pushing a campaign to choke Iran's ports and economy.The Guards said Wednesday they pummelled a US military base in Jordan in response to US forces destroying five Iranian oil tankers the day before.The US military said it acted after Iran targeted an American warship, the second such attack in less than a week.Oil prices climbed to near $100 a barrel in Asian morning trade, as the flare-up threatened to further choke supply from the crude-rich Middle East.The price of Brent crude, the benchmark international contract, rose to $99.46 per barrel, while the main US contract West Texas Intermediate was at $94.45 per barrel.The Islamic republic also said it would target oil tankers off US-allied Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for the US strikes on its tankers. Jordanian air defences intercept missiles launched from Iran, as seen from the Israeli side of the Jordan Valley, September 9 A flash of light appears in the sky as air defence operates to intercept projectiles, in Ash-Shajarah, Jordan, September 8 This screen grab made on September 5 shows what CENTCOM says is US military forces striking an Iranian crude oil tanker, M/T Downy, off the coast of Kharg Island Minutes later, Iran's Revolutionary Guards - the most powerful arm of the Iranian military - said they had struck the US air base of Al-Azraq in Jordan with missiles, state media reported.The 'punitive operation' damaged maintenance and repair facilities, deployment locations and shelters for fighter jets, according to IRNA.Jordan's army said it shot down 18 missiles from Iran targeting the kingdom.The strikes came after Tehran urged crews on oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels, warning they 'will be targeted', the Guards said in a statement posted on IRNA.The latest round of fighting was triggered after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, with the US military saying it 'directed the crews to abandon ship' before hitting the vessels.'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, and I think you'll see that again today,' US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday on a visit to Colombia.Iranian media reported Tuesday that a US missile struck a tanker off the coast of Kharg Island, adding that there were no casualties.The chief of staff of Iran's army Ali Abdollahi had warned the Islamic republic would hit US bases in the region if Iranian oil tankers were hit.Iran has asserted control of the Strait of Hormuz - which normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas - since the start of the war in February, with traffic through the waterway virtually paralysed.Tehran requires vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before using the strait.Iran's Guards also said on Tuesday they seized 'one of the most modern, unmanned' American submarine drones in the Strait of Hormuz.The US military said that the drone had 'malfunctioned', insisting it was an 'older model' that did not carry any sensitive data.Iranian state TV also said the Guards had attacked two US destroyers with ballistic missiles.The US military did not immediately comment on the report. The US military on Tuesday struck an Iranian oil tanker near Kharg Island, the nation's critical oil export terminalThe Iranian-backed Houthis attacked four cities in the south of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding 73 people and setting oil installations ablaze.The group, who control most of Yemen's populated areas including the capital, used drones and missiles to strike a Saudi airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushait as well as Saudi state oil company assets in the cities of Abha, Najran and Jazan.NASA satellite images showed a thick cloud of black ​smoke over the Jazan refinery and a column of ​white smoke rising from an oil distribution centre ⁠in Abha.Saudi authorities described blazes at the sites and said women and children were among the 73 people hurt. The reports of such large numbers of wounded suggested the attacks were among the biggest carried out against Saudi Arabia since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in February.The attacks on ​southwestern Saudi Arabia have the potential to worsen the war's global economic impact by disrupting Middle East energy supplies beyond the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis have further pressured US allies by periodically disrupting shipping on the other side of the Arabian peninsula, at the entrance to the Red Sea. This is a breaking news story. More to follow.