Iran has launched Iran missile attacks on US bases in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain, triggering a sharp escalation after reports that shrapnel from a US strike killed five people, including a child, at a wedding celebration in southern Iran.
The Iranian Red Crescent reported the deaths and more than 50 injuries when debris from a US missile struck a home in Sirik, in southern Iran, where a wedding was under way. BBC News reported that US Central Command (Centcom) said US strikes followed attempted attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American forces in the region.
Iran missile attacks US bases from Jordan to Iraq
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that, by early Wednesday, the IRGC had launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at a US Marine base in Aqaba, Jordan, in retaliation for the Sirik attack. The Jordanian Armed Forces said it intercepted 13 ballistic missiles: 10 were destroyed and three fell in remote areas. There were no deaths or injuries.
Jordan’s national security centre warned residents of the Aqaba and Mafraq governorates of falling debris, though that warning has since ended.
Kuwait’s army said its air defences were responding to Iranian missile attacks early Wednesday. Several explosions were also reported in Bahrain. In Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, the IRGC said it had struck US bases with missiles and drones, destroying a maintenance centre, warehouses and equipment, according to state-run IRNA.
Iran’s attacks on US positions were not limited to the early hours of Wednesday. Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that one A-10 Thunderbolt II suffered a severely damaged wing and around eight F-15E Strike Eagles were slightly damaged but considered serviceable after Iran attacked Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on 8 September. The same base had already seen bloodshed: three Army soldiers were killed in a missile attack there in July, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported.
The scale of hardware damage extended beyond aircraft. Al Jazeera reported that three anti-ballistic missile battery systems, each costing about $1 billion to manufacture, were damaged at the Al Ruwais and Al Sader airbases in the UAE and at Muwaffaq Salti Airbase in Jordan. US forces fired about 30 Patriot interceptor missiles to counter the incoming strikes, amid reports of depleting stockpiles of US air defence interceptors and other missiles, Al Jazeera said.
US denies targeting civilians; Trump warns of harder strikes
US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, speaking on behalf of Centcom, told the BBC the US military was aware of reports of the Sirik attack from Iranian state media. He said: ‘The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC.’
Donald Trump, when the US strikes were announced on Tuesday afternoon, warned that Iran would be hit again at ‘a much harder and higher level’ if it retaliated.
Centcom said US forces began striking IRGC targets at 12:00 ET and completed the strikes by early Wednesday. Iranian state media reported that projectiles struck Chabahar, Konarak and an airport in Jiroft, with explosions also heard at Qeshm island and Bandar Abbas.
The current exchange follows US and Israeli wide-ranging strikes on Iran on 28 February. Iran responded by attacking Israel, US bases and allied states in the Gulf, and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz to marine traffic. A US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding to extend a ceasefire was signed in June but has since expired, leading to the resumption of hostilities.
Both sides have also struck shipping. Tehran has targeted vessels it says crossed the strait without its permission; Washington has enforced a naval blockade of Iranian ports. The US announced a fresh sanctions campaign on 24 August to further isolate Tehran and expand secondary sanctions against its allies.
Speaking at a G20 finance ministers meeting, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said many US allies ‘came forward and said they will do whatever is necessary’ on the sanctions. Iranian officials have largely dismissed the measures as a continuation of existing US economic pressure. On Tuesday, however, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was quoted by state media as saying if the US returned to its commitments under the agreement, Iran would reciprocate.
