Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out attacks against a US base in Jordan and 21 other targets in the Gulf on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes around the Strait of Hormuz. The clashes mark one of the biggest exchanges in hostilities since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in April. The Iranian strikes, which included attacks in Kuwait and Bahrain, came after the US military said on X it had targeted Iranian air defence, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the strait in response to what US President Donald Trump said was the downing of a US Apache helicopter on Tuesday. 

“I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is,” Trump told ABC News on Tuesday.The escalation in violence deepens doubts about the prospects for a deal to end the war that started on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Tehran responded by firing on US bases and assets in Gulf countries and all but choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil and gas.The fresh Iranian strikes came after the United States carried out its own attacks on the Islamic Republic in response to Tehran shooting down an American helicopter. 

The latest US strikes lasted around four hours before the US Central Command posted just before 9pm ET (0100 GMT on Wednesday) that they had ended. A US official said almost 20 Iranian targets had been struck. Iran’s state media reported that  Qeshm island and the port city of Sirik in the Strait of Hormuz were attacked. Sounds of explosions were heard in nearby Bandar Abbas, and later in the vicinity of Jask, near the entrance to the strait, Iranian media reported, citing local sources and residents. 

Iranian forces fired “long-range missiles” and “targeted and destroyed four major targets” in Jordan, including F-35 fighter nests at an air base and the US command centre in Al-Azraq, the country’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement quoted by state-run IRNA news agency early on Wednesday. Jordan’s military said it shot down five missiles from Iran, with no casualties or material damage. The hostilities extended to other countries in the Middle East, with air raid sirens sounding in Bahrain after the Guards said they had struck another US base there. 

The Kuwaiti army said its air defence systems were engaging hostile aerial targets and urged the public to follow official safety instructions, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted the Ali Al-Salem base in Kuwait with drones. Iran’s Revolutionary ?Guards said earlier they attacked the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain with drones and threatened “more severe responses” if hostilities continued, according to media. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said a warning siren had been sounded and urged the public to head to safety. ?Air defences had repelled Iranian attacks, a media adviser to Bahrain’s king said soon after. 

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi threatened payback, saying on X: “The US [has] opted to test our determination. Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered.” Oil prices climbed about one per cent in early Asian trade on Wednesday following the escalation in hostilities. During the US strikes, Iranian media reported at least two series of explosions along Iran’s southern coast near the Strait of Hormuz. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)