Iran Launches Retaliatory Strikes on US Bases
Iran said on Monday it attacked US military targets in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for the first American strikes on its territory in a month, marking a fresh flare-up in the six-month war between the two countries.
Tehran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they struck two US military air bases with ballistic missiles in Washington-allied Jordan, causing "heavy damage." Jordan's army said it had intercepted eight missiles, without stating their origin.
In a separate statement, the IRGC said it attacked the UAE's Al Minhad Air Base with drones, according to Iranian state TV. The Guards said the attack, prompted by the attack on Larak Island, targeted locations where US forces and helicopters were stationed. The UAE's Ministry of Defence said its air force engaged a drone over its territorial waters that had come from Iran, but rejected Iranian claims that its airbase was hit.
US Says Strike Targeted Minelaying Forces
The Iranian attacks came after the United States said on Sunday it had attacked Iranian rocket launchers on a small island in the Strait of Hormuz. Washington said its attacks were aimed at preventing Iran from launching more sea mines into the strait, days after it announced it had completed clearing explosives from the strategic waterway.
"US forces took limited, precise action against IRGC mine laying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz," the US Central Command (Centcom) wrote on X.
The Guards said the US strikes resulted in "casualties" and that their subsequent attack on Jordan was "in response to the US-Zionist aerial aggression." Iran's foreign ministry condemned the US strike on Larak Island as a "direct violation of national sovereignty and territorial integrity" and said the armed forces struck US bases in Jordan in response to the attack on Larak, which the ministry said had been used to launch and support the attack. The ministry described the strikes as "legitimate defence" and warned that Iran would respond decisively to further military aggression.
In his first comments since the attack, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was "not looking for war", but would "never sit still in the face of any aggression" either. Pezeshkian was quoted by the Iranian news agency Fars as saying Iran "will give a decisive response to the aggressors" if attacked, and that "instability and unrest in the region are not in the interest of any country and will challenge everyone."
Escalation in Six-Month Conflict
The exchange of fire came shortly after the US-Iran war hit the six-month mark, at a time when hostilities had been subsiding. The last US strike on Iran prior to Sunday's came on July 29 in response to "an attempted surprise attack on US forces" in the region. Earlier in July, Centcom attacked Iran for 13 consecutive nights. Iran has struck US facilities and allies in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic sea lane through which one-fifth of the world's oil passed before the United States and Israel triggered hostilities with strikes on Iran on February 28.
"Last week, Centcom completed clearing sea mines from the strait's international shipping routes," said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command. "US forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway," he said.
A ceasefire was agreed in April and a memorandum of understanding towards a final peace deal was signed in June, but no final agreement has been forthcoming. Diplomatic efforts by mediators including Pakistan and Qatar have tried for months to end the war.
Economic Warfare Intensifies
The return to hostilities follows weeks in which the administration of US President Donald Trump has prioritised "economic warfare" over military strikes on Iran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said new secondary sanctions were likely to be unveiled weekly, with an initial focus on banks. "We're starting with the banks, and we're telling the banks it's not okay to have Iranian money and to aid the regime," Bessent said. The US has imposed penalties on UAE branches of Egypt's Banque Misr over alleged financial links to Iran.
Trump also claimed on social media that Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export terminal, was being "blown to smithereens," posting an AI-generated video. However, Hamid Bovard, the chief executive of the government-run National Iranian Oil Co, dismissed the claims as "laughable," telling Iranian media that "Trump's tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate," and that oil operations had not stopped.
US Officials and Analysts React
A US official told Al Jazeera Arabic that the missile attack on US forces in Jordan proves that "Iran is no longer the power it once was." Harlan Ullman, a retired US senior naval officer, described the attacks on Jordan as a "political statement."
US Senator Jack Reed criticised the administration over the war, saying: "Six months later, not a single objective has been achieved." Reed added that Trump "has weakened our position in the Middle East and the world significantly."
The strikes have had economic repercussions: oil prices rose after news of the US strikes, with a barrel of North Sea Brent crude climbing above $90 and West Texas Intermediate rising to more than $85. Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused price hikes and shortages of fertiliser and energy.