Iran said on Thursday that it struck U.S. facilities and forces in Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, according to statements released by Iranian state media. So far, the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and Jordanian authorities had not responded to those claims.
According to Iranian state outlets, the army reported that it “attacked U.S. military communications systems and fuel depots” at the Azraq base in Jordan, where Tehran says U.S. forces operate.
In a separate statement, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it hit a C-RAM early-warning radar at Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait and a U.S. troop concentration area in Umm Qasr, Iraq, in a combined missiles-and-drones operation. The IRGC also urged the Kuwaiti public to reject the U.S. military presence, claiming that “U.S. operations against Iran were being conducted from Kuwaiti territory.”
The IRGC said the offensive was in response to recent U.S. strikes on southern Iran and noted that naval and aerospace forces took part as part of the eighth wave of “Operation Nasr 2.”
Hours earlier, the U.S. Armed Forces completed a fifth wave of strikes against Iran, CENTCOM confirmed. The U.S. military command said forces targeted “Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities” to reduce the regime’s ability to “threaten innocent mariners operating commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
It added: “CENTCOM used precision munitions to strike targets at multiple locations, including Bandar Abbas.”
The new offensive came after Washington confirmed the reestablishment of a naval blockade on Iranian ports and coasts and announced the diversion of two merchant ships that, according to the Pentagon, tried to evade the restrictions imposed by the United States.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump intensified his rhetoric toward Tehran and warned that the military campaign could expand in the coming days if the Iranian regime does not agree to resume negotiations. “Next week the situation will be very bad for them,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
Despite the military escalation, diplomatic channels remain open. However, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament and the regime’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the memorandum signed with Washington lost its validity after the United States reinstated the naval blockade.
“A memorandum of understanding only makes sense when its clauses are valid and honored. If Iran gains no benefit from the agreement, we have no reason to respect it,” he said.
The main focus of the confrontation continues to be the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic route for global oil and gas trade. Iran again restricted transit through the waterway after accusing the United States of failing to uphold agreed commitments, while Washington responded with further military operations and the restoration of the naval blockade on Iranian ports and coasts.
(With information from REUTERS)