IRGC says missile-and-drone operation was a “necessary and lawful” response as Tehran warns further aggression will bring an even stronger retaliation
TEHRAN – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and its armed forces launched multiple strikes against U.S. military positions in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates on Monday, vowing a “decisive” response to an American terrorist assault on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz that martyred and wounded Iranian military personnel and civilians.
The coordinated retaliatory operations, which targeted U.S. bases in Jordan and the UAE and included the downing of two American MQ-9 Reaper drones over the strategic waterway, marked a significant escalation in the six-month war between Iran and the United States that began on February 28, 2026, with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against the Islamic Republic.
The IRGC’s Aerospace Force launched a combined missile and drone operation codenamed “Punishment of the Aggressor” against the King Hussein and Al-Azraq military bases in Jordan, which host U.S. forces, the IRGC announced in a statement on Monday morning.
The operation targeted “technical and repair infrastructure, as well as the enemy fighter deployment sites,” inflicting significant damage on the aggressor’s military assets, the statement said.
The IRGC said the strike was the “necessary and lawful answer” to Sunday night’s attack on Larak Island, which it said martyred and wounded a number of Iranian combatants and compatriots.
“Aggression and crimes will not solve the enemy’s desperation
in attempting to weaken the Islamic Republic’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, and every attack will be met with even more devastating responses,” the IRGC statement declared.
Sources described Monday’s strikes as precise, calibrated, and aimed at the infrastructure that enables U.S. warplanes and support operations from Jordanian territory.
By hitting maintenance facilities and fighter deployment sites, the IRGC said it has degraded the enemy’s ability to project force from those bases.
Separately, Iran’s Army announced that it targeted U.S. military assets at Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE, approximately 24 kilometers south of Dubai, using dozens of suicide drones.
The Army said in a statement on Monday that the attack struck locations housing U.S. military helicopters and personnel at Al Minhad Air Base, describing it as “an important logistics and air transport hub for foreign forces”.
The operation was in response to the U.S. attack on Larak Island, which martyred and injured several IRGC servicemen and ordinary civilians.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army forces remain steadfast in ensuring lasting security and defending Iran’s territory until the enemy threat is removed from the area,” the statement noted.
It added that the army will avenge the blood of all the martyrs of the imposed war by confronting “U.S. terrorist forces”.
The IRGC also announced on Monday night that it had shot down a second U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz, raising to two the number of American unmanned aerial vehicles destroyed in a single day.
The IRGC said the drone was “tracked and destroyed by the fire of the modern advanced defense system of the IRGC Aerospace Force, operating under the integrated national air defense network.”
Earlier on Monday, the IRGC had announced it had shot down another U.S. MQ-9 long-range unmanned aerial vehicle over the same strategic waterway, causing it to crash into the waters of the Persian Gulf.
The MQ-9 Reaper has suffered catastrophic attrition since the US-Israeli aggression began in late February, with Iran claiming to have destroyed over two dozen of the drones. At $30 million per airframe, the total damage is estimated at approximately $1 billion.
The statement praised the Iranian people’s continued presence in the field as “the greatest support for the Islamic Republic’s combatants”.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the U.S. attack on Larak Island as a violation of the Islamic Republic’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, saying it exercised its legitimate right to retaliate.
“In response to this military aggression and in accordance with the inherent right of self-defense, the powerful armed forces of Islamic Iran delivered defensive and crushing blows to U.S. military bases in Jordan, which served as the origin and supporter of the US military aggression against Iran,” the ministry emphasized.
The statement stressed that Iran’s armed forces will not hesitate to exercise the country’s inherent right of self-defense and will respond firmly to any military aggression by the enemies.
According to the ministry, the full responsibility for the consequences of any new U.S. military action and the continuation of the naval blockade and economic warfare against Iran rests with the U.S. and all parties that in any way aid or abet such unlawful measures.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking before departing Tehran for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Monday to attend the 26th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), said Iran does not seek war but will respond firmly to any act of aggression.
“We are not seeking war, and this is a clear message that we have repeatedly communicated to the world,” Pezeshkian said.
He, however, warned that Iran will never remain silent in the face of any aggression and would deliver a “decisive” response to the aggressors.
Pezeshkian noted that instability in the region would be harmful to all countries and stressed the importance of fostering regional convergence to advance economic and security goals.
Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, warned the United States after Sunday night’s attack on Larak Island that American forces should “just flee”.
“Testing our will again will only make the cost of your disgraceful failures heavier,” Azizi wrote on X.
He stressed that no crime at any level will go unanswered. The coming reply, he said, will be “devastating, more painful than previous blows, and a lesson that completes the chain of American setbacks”.
Brigadier General Alireza Elhami, who leads Iran’s Joint Headquarters of Air Defense, said the Islamic Republic will respond decisively to any new hostility.
“If the enemies make a mistake, their snouts will definitely be rubbed in the dirt,” Elhami said.
Elhami said the Iranian air defense force has unveiled several new interception systems over the past few days, manufactured relying on experience Iran gained during the U.S.-Israeli aggression that ended in a ceasefire in mid-April.
He said the new homegrown weapons carry an important message for Iran’s enemies, though he said Iran has a policy of keeping the details and information about its home-made weapons confidential.
Larak Island sits at the heart of the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy corridor. Iranian authorities have repeatedly stated that control of the waterway is a matter of national security and that no foreign power will be permitted to dictate terms there.