PREEMPTIVE STRIKE
Iran Strikes First – U.S. Base Hit in Jordan
TEHRAN — Iran launched a fresh wave of heavy ballistic missiles on Friday, with Arab sources reporting missile launches observed from multiple cities, explosions heard across Jordan, and multiple aircraft placed in holding patterns over UAE airspace.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said it carried out preemptive strikes against a U.S. base in Jordan that was preparing to launch attacks against Iran.
The missile fire was observed from various cities across Iran. Flight activity over the UAE was disrupted, with multiple aircraft placed in holding patterns as a precautionary measure.
The projectiles appeared to be heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, likely targeting ship-to-ship transfers in the strategic waterway. Strong explosions were reported across Jordan, according to regional sources, with Al Arabiya reporting Iranian missiles over the kingdom around 16:40–17:05 UTC Friday.
The new barrage came after Iranian forces continued their 31st phase of Operation Lightning on Thursday, targeting U.S. military facilities across the region, according to Army spokesman Brigadier General Muhammad Akraminia.
U.S. bases in the UAE and Kuwait were hit, with one important location at a U.S. base reportedly sustaining significant damage. Flight activity at Kuwait International Airport was suspended because of the threat of further air attacks.
“Just 15 minutes after the U.S. attack on southern Iran, the first Iranian missiles and drones were launched toward U.S. bases,” Akraminia said in
an interview on Friday. He said four U.S. bases in three regional countries were targeted, including two in the UAE, one in Bahrain and one in Kuwait. “The volume of fire we unleashed was highly crushing.”
The strikes came in retaliation for the recent U.S. attack on the Kouhestak wedding ceremony in Hormozgan Province, which martyred five civilians including a four-year-old child, according to Iranian officials.
A More Confident Iran Emerges After Six Months of War
Six months into the war with the United States, a more confident Iran has emerged, according to The New York Times. U.S. intelligence reports in recent weeks have assessed that Iran now has a far better understanding of its capabilities and the limits of U.S. power.
Iran has grown more confident in its ability to attack targets across West Asia and appears determined to continue the war for months to frustrate the United States.
The intelligence assessments, the paper said, reflect what has been observable on the ground as fighting has repeatedly erupted after periods of relative calm. In the past week alone, Iran targeted ships in the Strait of Hormuz and American troops across the region. According to the intelligence reports, Iran’s government might be contemplating a significant escalation.
U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that Iran currently sees little incentive to reach an agreement and may instead try to prolong the war until the U.S. midterm elections, hoping that rising energy prices, American casualties, and public dissatisfaction with the war will increase political pressure on President Trump.
U.S. officials have warned that Iran may return to the level of tensions seen in July, when Tehran repeatedly targeted U.S. bases, American-Israeli-linked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and infrastructure across the Persian Gulf region.
Classified U.S. intelligence assessments have sharply undercut the Trump administration’s public claims about the war’s success. War secretary Pete Hegseth has said that Operation Epic Fury “decimated Iran’s military and rendered it combat ineffective for years to come,” while President Trump has claimed that Iran has “nothing left in a military sense”.
However, the classified intelligence paints a far different picture. According to The New York Times, assessments reviewed by senior officials show Iran retains roughly 70 percent of its pre-war missile stockpile and roughly 70 percent of its mobile missile launchers nationwide.
The country has also restored access to nearly 90 percent of its underground missile storage and launch facilities, many of which are now considered “partially or fully operational”.
The intelligence also shows Iran has restored operational access to almost all of its missile sites along the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Officials told the Times that the U.S. underestimated Iran’s resilience and its ability to bounce back.
The New York Times has also reported that six months into the war, the Trump administration has failed to articulate clear objectives. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently announced “Operation Economic Outcast,” an intensified economic campaign to isolate Iran and crash its economy, but did not indicate how long it will last, what instruments it will use, or what it aims to achieve.
“There is no clear articulation of America’s goals,” said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation. Experts have noted that a country already subject to thousands of sanctions is unlikely to capitulate because of a few more.
Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, warned that if the economic strategy fails, the U.S. could return to military escalation, while if it succeeds in strangling Iran’s economy, Tehran could itself escalate in an attempt to break the U.S. naval blockade.
“It is difficult to dress up what has clearly been an American failure to bend Iran to its will,” the Times wrote. Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, said: “The war has failed to deliver U.S. objectives.”
Suzanne Maloney, head of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, judged the war a failure. “We did a lot of damage to Iran, but they have come out stronger than before,” she said.
U.S. Economy Reels as Diesel Hits Record High
The economic blowback from the war is intensifying. Diesel prices surged to a record $5.85 per gallon on Friday, surpassing the previous peak set during the Russia-Ukraine war, according to AAA. The price has risen more than 55 percent since the war began on February 28, when a gallon cost $3.76.
Gasoline prices also rose to an average of $4.15 per gallon, up nearly 40 percent since the war began. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, has disrupted supply chains while missile strikes have damaged refineries in West Asia. Experts say the higher fuel costs will linger even if the war is resolved and the price of crude oil falls.
“The high cost of diesel and gasoline is directly caused by two wars — Russia-Ukraine and Iran,” Akraminia said. “Trump said he would end the Russia war on day one and should never have started the Iran war. Both of these unfulfilled campaign promises are hurting Americans, and the damage will continue as goods prices rise.”
Akraminia confirmed that Iran has been gradually shifting its military doctrine toward preemptive attack since the 12-day war with the U.S. in June 2025. “When we face an American threat, we defend ourselves, and international law allows us to defend ourselves preemptively,” he said.
He noted that Iranian forces targeted U.S. bases in Jordan, Syria and Iraq’s Kurdistan region in preemptive operations that neutralized separatist groups. “Wherever we feel threatened, within the framework of international law and to defend our rights, we will carry out preemptive operations.”
Akraminia also said that Iranian strikes have destroyed radar facilities and air defense systems at U.S. bases across the region.
“With the destruction of these systems, targeting the occupied territories and the Zionist regime’s bases has become much easier than before,” he warned.
He cautioned that any Israeli attack would be met with strikes carried out “more easily, more quickly and more forcefully.”
U.S. Logistical Nightmare
Akraminia said U.S. bases in the region have sustained serious damage, forcing the U.S. military to supply its forces from remote locations such as Diego Garcia and East Asia. “Americans now face serious problems with food supply and fuel for their forces,” he said, citing damage to a support base in Bahrain.
“The Americans have been forced to import fuel from outside the region. They have become completely dependent on long-distance supply lines, and this has created serious vulnerabilities,” he said. The spokesman also pointed to growing discontent among U.S. forces, citing protests on the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier.
Iran’s army vowed to continue its operations until “final victory and the punishment of the aggressor.”
“The enemy is weak in the war of wills,” Akraminia said. “The great Iranian nation will ultimately emerge victorious in this war.”