U.S. denies claims Iran struck two American vessels in retaliation for earlier strikes

JUST IN: The US denies Iran's claim that it struck two American vessels in retaliation, with Centcom saying all IRGC attacks failed as the two sides trade strikes near the Strait of Hormuz and Brent crude tops $100 a barrel.

Iran says it hit two American ships. Washington says nothing was touched.

The Revolutionary Guards claimed they struck two US vessels and eight tankers in the Gulf, retaliation for America destroying five Iranian tankers on Tuesday. Centcom's reply was blunt. No US Navy warship has been struck, all IRGC attempted attacks failed. And they added the scoreboard, ten Iranian tankers destroyed in a week, part of what they call a multibillion-dollar shadow network funding the Guards.

All of this is happening in the Strait of Hormuz, the corridor a fifth of the world's oil moves through, and the market has noticed. Brent crude topped 100 dollars a barrel this morning, first time since July. You can see that here.

Tehran's foreign minister is shrugging off new American sanctions as a failed strategy rehashed. But the hard fact is this. Two nuclear-capable adversaries are now trading live fire, almost daily, across the world's most important oil chokepoint.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.