Iran retaliates after first U.S. strikes in a month
The US had attacked Iranian rocket launchers on the small island of Larak.
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The US had attacked Iranian rocket launchers on the small island of Larak.
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TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran attacked United States military targets in the Middle East on Monday in retaliation for the first American strikes on its territory in a month, in a fresh flare-up of the war that has engulfed the region.
Tehran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they had responded to Sunday’s American attack by striking two US air bases with ballistic missiles in Washington-allied Jordan, causing “heavy damage.”
Jordan’s army said it had intercepted eight missiles, without stating their origin.
Tehran also claimed it targeted US military personnel at an air base in the United Arab Emirates and shot down a US drone over the Strait of Hormuz.
The flurry of attacks came after the US said Sunday it had attacked Iranian rocket launchers on the small island of Larak in the strategic shipping lane.
Washington said its attacks were aimed at preventing Iran from placing more sea mines in the strait, days after the US announced it had completed clearing explosives from the waterway.
“US forces took limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz,” the US military’s Central Command wrote on X.
Iran’s Guards said the US strikes resulted in “casualties” and that their subsequent attack on Jordan was “in response to the US-Zionist aerial aggression.”
The Iranian foreign ministry condemned the US attacks on Larak and justified the Jordan strikes as “legitimate defense.”
“We are not seeking war, but we will deliver a decisive response to the aggressors,” added Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a statement quoted by state TV.
Pezeshkian was speaking before traveling to Kyrgyzstan for a summit of a bloc that seeks to counter influence from the West, along with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.
The exchange of fire between the US and Iran came shortly after their war hit its six-month mark, and at a time when hostilities had been subsiding.
In recent weeks, the administration of US President Donald Trump has prioritized “economic warfare” over military strikes.
Tehran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic sea lane through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the US and Israel triggered the war with strikes on Iran on 28 February.
“Last week, CENTCOM completed clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes,” said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command.
“US forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway,” he said.
