IBNS-CMEDIA: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed responsibility for a missile strike on a U.S. airbase in Al-Azraq, Jordan, saying it hit four strategic military targets, including shelters housing F-35 fighter jets and a command-and-control centre.
The development marks a significant escalation in regional tensions and raises fresh doubts over prospects for a peace agreement.
In a statement, the IRGC’s public relations office said its Aerospace Force launched long-range solid-fuel ballistic missiles at the base, destroying what it described as four key military targets, including hangars containing F-35 fighter aircraft and a command centre belonging to the “child-killing U.S. army,” according to Iran’s Mehr News Agency.
The IRGC said the operation followed what it described as successful strikes by its Navy on 21 targets linked to U.S. air and naval bases across the region, as well as the downing of an MQ-9 drone over the Iranian town of Jam.
In a separate report, Mehr News Agency said the Iranian military also launched a wave of drone attacks early Wednesday targeting U.S. military installations and radar systems associated with the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. Tehran said the strikes were carried out in retaliation for recent American actions against residents in southern Iran.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that American forces conducted self-defence strikes against Iranian military assets on June 9, acting on orders from the Commander-in-Chief following the reported downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter.
According to CENTCOM, U.S. Air Force and Navy fighter jets carried out precision strikes on Iranian air-defence systems, ground-control stations and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz.
“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on U.S. forces and international commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
