US and Iran Trade Strikes
The United States and Iran exchanged military strikes on Tuesday, after US forces attacked targets linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Tehran launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks against American bases in the region.
The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said American forces had completed a wave of strikes against IRGC targets, including air defence sites, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications facilities. In a post on X, CENTCOM said the strikes followed "recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members." It also stated that "More than 50,000 US service members are currently operating across the Middle East and remain vigilant, lethal, and prepared to continue executing operations directed by the Commander in Chief."
Iran's Retaliation
The IRGC said it had started strikes against US bases and assets in the region in retaliation for the US attacks on southern Iranian provinces. In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News on Tuesday night, the IRGC said its "regret-inducing response against the aggressors" had begun, and that its air defence had shot down a "hostile" US MQ-9 Reaper drone.
The IRGC's aerospace forces launched ballistic missile and drone strikes on Camp Titin in Jordan and Shaikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, reportedly killing "a large number of" US troops and destroying several key facilities and combat helicopters. The IRGC stressed that the US strikes would only protract the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and make the Iranian armed forces more determined to "suppress the foreign forces interfering in the waterway."
The IRGC said the attacks began after the United States bombed civilian places on Iran's southern coasts "out of desperation" and in retaliation for the US "criminal" and deadly attack on a wedding ceremony in Hormozgan province.
Casualties and Missile Interceptions
The semi-official Fars news agency cited Ahmad Nafisi, Hormozgan's deputy governor for political and security affairs, as saying that at least five people, including a four-year-old child and a woman, were killed and over 50 others wounded in the US attack targeting the wedding ceremony in Sirik county.
The Jordanian Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) said that the country's air defence systems on Tuesday evening intercepted and destroyed 10 of 13 ballistic missiles that entered its airspace from Iran. The remaining three missiles fell in remote areas away from population centres, with no casualties or loss of life reported, according to a JAF statement.
Escalation in the Region
Multiple explosions were heard Tuesday evening in several southern Iranian provinces, including the counties of Sirik, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Jask in Hormozgan, Konarak and Chabahar in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Jiroft in Kerman province, and Asaluyeh in Bushehr province, as reported by Iranian media. The explosions came as CENTCOM, in a post on X, announced the start of strikes against IRGC targets.
Iran's main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement that in response to the US "air aggression," the Iranian armed forces would deal "crushing and shattering" blows to the United States.
The exchange of strikes comes amid heightened tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically vital waterway for global oil shipments.