Efforts to use a pause in fighting to begin negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz have given way to renewed military action across the region. Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles that entered its airspace on Monday.
The Jordanian Armed Forces gave no further details of the interceptions. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had attacked two US military bases in Jordan in response to “the US-Israeli enemy's attack on Larak Island”.
In its statement, the IRGC said it “targeted the technical and maintenance infrastructure and the locations where enemy fighter jets are stationed at the two US air bases in Jordan using ballistic missiles”. A US source familiar with the situation told Fox News on Monday that nearly all of the missiles had been intercepted by US air defences.
Local media reported explosions near the city of Aqaba. It was unclear whether US personnel or assets were damaged in the attacks on the two bases.
The Iranian attacks followed US airstrikes on Larak Island in southern Iran. The US had also struck Iranian missile launchers after IRGC forces were seen preparing to fire towards the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
US intelligence assessed that Iranian forces intended to use rockets fitted with sea mines to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. A US strike on Iranian forces also took place near the Strait of Hormuz.
The halt in hostilities, which had lasted days, ended late Tuesday. US forces said they intercepted missiles Iran launched at American bases in the Gulf. Washington said the cessation in fighting was meant to start a new round of negotiations, including over the Strait of Hormuz.
On Monday, the IRGC also claimed to have shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The claim was among several assertions made by the group that could not be assessed from the available accounts.
US and Saudi Arabian forces struck Iran-backed militants in Iraq on Wednesday in retaliation for recent attacks. The US military said fighter planes hit logistics and weapons sites in eastern Iraq belonging to “Iran-aligned terrorists”.
Oil markets reacted to the renewed fighting. Crude oil prices rose more than four per cent amid concern about supplies that normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington for their first in-person talks since the Middle East war began in late February. Trump hosted Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday for closed-door discussions that lasted for about an hour and a half.
The administration described the talks as “positive and productive”. It did not provide details of the discussions.
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