US sinks Iranian tanker as tit-for-tat strikes push oil toward $100

In the ancient waters of the Persian Gulf, the United States and Iran have entered a rhythm of reciprocal destruction that compresses the slow logic of geopolitical rivalry into days rather than decades. American forces struck five Iranian oil tankers — sinking one — after Iranian missiles targeted a US warship, and Iran answered with strikes on a Jordanian base and claims of attacks on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The exchange, rooted in a cycle set in motion when the US and Israel struck Iran in February, has pushed oil toward a hundred dollars a barrel — a threshold that reminds