The US attack on Iran, in which the US military hit two Iranian tankers and about 100 other targets of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) of Iran, was the first use of President Donald Trump's new strategy, sources said, Axios reports.

In the recent attack on Iran, the US military hit about 100 targets and damaged the engine compartments of two Iranian state-owned tankers that were anchored off the country's coast, north of the US naval blockade line.

“This is the first time the U.S. military has struck Iranian tankers in retaliation for Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz — rather than to prevent them from violating the naval blockade,” Axios noted.

A US official said the move was part of a new "tanker for tanker" policy approved by President Trump to further deter Iranian attacks on tankers that move through the strait.

A US official told Axios on Tuesday that the new strikes degraded Iran's attack capabilities in the strait and "bought at least a month" of lowered threat levels for commercial ships.

Washington had earlier said the strikes were in response to the IRGC’s latest attempt to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as US bases in the region.

The US Central Command said on Tuesday that US military forces had carried out strikes on Iran. And Tehran responded with its own strikes, attacking a US base in Jordan, the IRGC said.