Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, said Washington does not believe the Islamic Republic has received any help that could change the equations or the current conditions of the war.

Referring to the continued attacks by the Islamic Republic on vessels of the U.S. Navy, Rubio said: “They are still firing at our Navy ships, and when they do it, they pay for it with their tankers.”

He added: “They are not targeting our ships, but they are losing five tankers. Last night, they lost another five tankers; four tankers were damaged and one sank. Therefore, they will still continue to pay the price for these actions.”

The U.S. foreign minister stressed: “Meanwhile, we will continue to choke their economy.”

Rubio had previously said that every time the Islamic Republic takes action to attack the ships of the U.S. Navy, its tankers will be targeted. CENTCOM also announced on Wednesday, 18 Shahrivar, that U.S. forces destroyed 10 Iranian tankers over the course of a week and that no U.S. warship was targeted in the attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.