Iran has launched ballistic missile strikes against US military targets in Jordan after American forces attacked Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, marking the latest escalation in the six-month conflict.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted the King Hussein and al-Azraq air bases, claiming the attacks caused “heavy damage” to technical infrastructure, maintenance facilities and positions used by US fighter jets.
Jordan’s armed forces said its air-defence systems intercepted eight missiles that entered the kingdom’s airspace early on Monday. The army did not identify where the missiles were launched from. No independent confirmation of the reported damage was immediately available.
The Iranian attack followed a US strike on Sunday against two launchers on Larak Island, near the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command said Iranian forces had been preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the waterway.
The United States described the operation as a “limited, precise action” intended to prevent further attempts to disrupt international shipping. Washington said it had recently completed clearing mines from the strait’s international shipping routes and remained ready to protect the movement of commercial vessels, as reported by The BBC News.
Iranian officials condemned the American attack as a “strategic and fatal mistake”. The IRGC said several people had been killed or wounded and warned that Washington would face consequences in both economic and military terms.
The exchange of fire comes after several weeks of relative calm. It is also the first known US strike on Iranian territory since late July, when President Donald Trump paused a renewed military campaign.
The Strait of Hormuz remains at the centre of the confrontation. Before the war began, roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed through the waterway. Iran has restricted tanker traffic and reportedly demanded payments from vessels seeking to cross, while the United States has continued to impose sanctions and increase economic pressure on Tehran.
