Jordan says it Intercepted 18 of 20 Iranian Ballistic Missiles Targeting Kingdom
By FP News Desk
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they launched missile strikes at a US military base in Jordan after US attacks on Iranian vessels, while Jordan said its air defences intercepted 18 of 20 ballistic missiles fired towards its territory.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that it carried out what it described as “devastating” missile strikes against a US military base in Jordan, marking another escalation in the confrontation between Tehran and Washington.
Iranian state media reported that ballistic missiles were fired at the Al-Azraq base in Jordan as part of what the IRGC called a “punitive operation”. The attack was presented as a response to recent US strikes on Iranian vessels.
Jordan’s military said it detected 20 ballistic missiles launched from Iran towards Jordanian territory and intercepted 18 of them. The remaining two missiles landed in unpopulated areas.
“Jordan’s air defense systems engaged 20 ballistic missiles launched toward Jordanian territory, successfully intercepting and destroying 18 of them, while two missiles fell in unpopulated areas,” the army said in a statement.
US forces destroy five Iranian oil carriers
US forces destroyed five Iranian oil carriers on Tuesday after Iran launched ballistic missiles at an American warship twice in recent days, the US military said.
The strikes marked the second incidnet in less than a week that Washington has targeted Iranian tankers in response to attacks on US military vessels.
US Central Command said the tanker strikes followed two failed ballistic missile attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against a US Navy warship over the previous two days.
The warship “successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and continued to patrol regional waters,” Centcom said.
Centcom said, “American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,” adding that the action was “in response to Iran’s most recent failed attacks.”
The US military had also destroyed three Iranian crude carriers on Saturday after Iran attempted to attack a US aircraft carrier and a guided missile destroyer, according to Centcom.
“All IRGC attempts against US Navy warships have failed,” it added.
