Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles Wednesday at an airbase housing US forces in Jordan and targeted 20 vessels in the Persian Gulf region, retaliating hours after the US military destroyed five Iranian oil tankers.
With Tehran warning crews to evacuate tankers near Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledging to destroy an Iranian tanker for every attack against American vessels, exchange marks a sharp escalation in a conflict that has simmered since the US attack in February.
Jordanian air defenses intercepted 18 of 20 Iranian ballistic missiles aimed at Al-Azraq airbase, approximately 100 kilometers from the capital city of Amman, the Jordanian military said.
The remaining two missiles landed away from residential areas, causing no casualties, the Jordanian military added. In a statement carried by Iranian news agency IRNA, the IRGC said its missiles targeted maintenance and preparation hangars, fighter aircraft shelters, and facilities for F-35, F-16, and F-15 fighter jets.
At sea, the IRGC also announced strikes against two US vessels, eight oil tankers, and 10 other ships it characterized as “violating” vessels that attempted to navigate a “restricted and unsafe” zone in the Strait of Hormuz.
Ahead of the missile barrage on Al-Azraq, the IRGC warned oil tankers near Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports to evacuate their crews immediately, threatening to expand military action to Gulf states hosting American personnel.
Washington vowed to maintain its offensive against Iran’s maritime revenue streams. Rubio said the United States will continue targeting Iranian tankers, warning that Iran will lose oil carriers every time it targets American ships.
The Iranian strikes followed a Tuesday operation by US Central Command that destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers, four in the Gulf of Oman and one near Kharg Island. CENTCOM described the vessels “as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies,” claiming no American personnel have been harmed.
CENTCOM said the tanker strikes retaliated for two separate IRGC ballistic missile attacks against a US Navy warship over the previous 48 hours. The American warship successfully evaded both attacks without injuries to personnel.
The confrontation also extends to unmanned naval assets. On Tuesday, the IRGC claimed it captured an American submarine drone at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM disputed that framing, stating that a maritime drone malfunctioned more than a day earlier while surveying waters in support of ongoing operations.
CENTCOM spokesman Tim Hawkins said the device was an older, defective unit that carried no classified equipment and collected no sensitive data, declining to confirm whether Iranian forces had recovered it.
