United States Central Command confirmed Tuesday night that it has destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers in the latest escalation of the war in the Middle East.

The actions come after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days. The U.S. ship successfully evaded the missiles both times and no American has been injured.

CENTCOM said the latest U.S. attack disabled four Iranian ships that were transiting the Gulf of Oman and one ship that was traveling near Kharg Island. U.S. troops instructed the Iranian passengers to flee the ship before they were disabled.

"Iran has used the tankers as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies," CENTCOM said in a statement. "Iran has no means by which to defend these vessels."

The U.S. said it also comes after CENTCOM destroyed three Iranian crude oil carriers over the weekend in response to an Iranian attack on a U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer. 

"All IRGC attempts against U.S. Navy warships have failed," CENTCOM said.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.