TEHRAN -- Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) launched a ballistic missile strike against a U.S. airbase in Jordan early Wednesday, targeting the U.S. military’s terrorist Central Command headquarters, while simultaneously halting three oil tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorized route.
“In response to the aggressive actions of the child-killing U.S. military, the brave fighters of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force launched several ballistic missiles at a U.S. airbase and the U.S. military’s Central Command’s headquarters in Jordan,” the IRGC said in a statement.
“As long as threats against the Islamic Republic continue and the unlawful and hostile actions of U.S. forces against our interests persist, resistance will also continue,” the statement added, warning that “Threats by U.S. officials and unlawful interference against our interests must come to an end.”
The strike came amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington following months of military confrontation and disputes over regional security arrangements.
Iran has demonstrated an increasing ability to strike U.S. military facilities across West Asia through combined operations involving attack drones and advanced ballistic missiles, investigative outlet The Intercept reported, citing a U.S. official.
According to the report, Iran has carried out retaliatory strikes against at least nine U.S. military outposts across the region since July 9, with the U.S. official saying several facilities sustained “significant damage.”
The report said leaked footage from Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Airbase showed U.S. troops taking shelter as warning sirens sounded during Iranian ballistic missile and drone strikes on July 17 and 18. The operations, according to the report, resulted in the deaths of three U.S. troops stationed at the base.
The U.S. official said Iranian forces had “overwhelmed” American air defense systems by combining drone attacks with advanced ballistic missiles. The official said the missiles were difficult to intercept due to their high speeds, advanced navigation systems designed to overcome electronic jamming, and their ability to change flight paths after launch.
The report also pointed to shortages of Patriot and THAAD interceptor missiles, saying U.S. forces have been forced to conserve defensive munitions. It cited previous assessments that U.S. and allied forces had expended more than 11,000 munitions during the first 16 days of wholesale American-Israeli aggression against Iran from February 28 until April 7.
Iranian officials have hit out at the United States for continuing hostile actions despite a Pakistan-mediated memorandum of understanding signed last month, which called for an end to aggression on all fronts.
The strategic Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a flashpoint, where Washington has been breaching its commitments by attempting to open an unauthorized maritime route for vessels in defiance of the agreed arrangements.
On Wednesday, the IRGC Navy announced it had brought to a halt three oil tankers that “violated our warnings and continued sailing along an unsafe and unlawful route” in the strategic waterway under American instigation.
“The IRGC Navy once again warns that the unlawful interference and directives issued by the child-killing U.S. military to vessels operating in the region will not go unanswered,” the IRGC stated.
Iran has imposed strict controls on transit through Hormuz since the early days of the U.S.-Israeli terrorist war against Tehran on February 28. While Iran agreed to gradually ease restrictions under last month’s MoU, it reimposed checks after Washington violated a ceasefire agreement’s terms regarding strait management.
The military actions follow a Tuesday ultimatum from Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which warned that any country or company accepting compensation payments from U.S.-held Iranian assets for vessel damage would be permanently barred from the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump had announced on July 23 that the United States would utilize Iranian funds under its control to compensate for damages inflicted by Iranian attacks. Tehran dismissed this as illegal seizure of sovereign assets.
“We declare to all companies and countries that welcome Trump’s proposal and use Iran’s blocked assets under this pretext, that from now on, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not allow any of their vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz,” the command stated.
Despite the escalating confrontation, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the Iranian Army’s Chief of Staff and Coordinating Deputy, insisted that security across all land, sea, and air borders “remains good and stable.”
Sayyari stated that Iranian naval forces exercise full control over the eastern Strait of Hormuz, the northern Indian Ocean, and the Sea of Oman. “Our sons are standing firm, and no movement occurs in these strategic waters without their permission,” he said.
Lebanese journalist Nasser Qandil, editor-in-chief of Al-Binaa, offered analysis suggesting Iran’s strategy extends beyond naval posturing, stating that Iranian strikes have systematically degraded U.S. intelligence-gathering capabilities in the Persian Gulf.
“America does not rely solely on its own soil to monitor the world. Part of its interception network, satellite image processing, and drone operations are located in the Persian Gulf—a region that has come under Iranian strikes,” Qandil said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian described the country’s broader strategy in terms of principled resistance.
“We fight against enemies and resist them so that we do not submit to force and oppression,” Pezeshkian stated. “Similarly, we cannot impose force or oppression on our own people, because these two approaches contradict one another.”