US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran Tuesday that Washington will respond to every Iranian attempt to strike American military assets, as tensions between the two countries continued to escalate.

Speaking to reporters, Rubio described the exchange of attacks as a direct cycle of action and retaliation.

"The back and forth is pretty straightforward, and that is that 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."

Rubio spoke after US forces attacked Iranian oil tankers following attempts by Iran to launch missiles at an American vessel.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over a two-day period.

“The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters. No American personnel were harmed," the statement stressed.

Iran subsequently responded with missile launches toward Jordan early Wednesday morning. Iranian officials confirmed that the Islamic Republic had targeted the Muwaffaq Salti and Prince Hassan military bases in Jordan.

Explosions were also reportedly heard in Bahrain following missile launches from Iran.