Tehran has launched a volley of ballistic missiles targeting an American military installation in Jordan, a significant escalation that marks the first direct Iranian strike on a US base in the region since President Donald Trump halted offensive operations to pursue diplomatic channels, US officials have confirmed on Wednesday.
A failed salvo and a diplomatic pause
According to a statement cited by Axios journalist Barak Ravid, Iran fired ballistic missiles towards the American base. All projectiles were successfully intercepted, though it remains unclear whether the interception was carried out by US or Jordanian defence systems.
“This is the first instance of an Iranian missile strike on an American base in the region since President Trump decided to suspend strikes on Iran to give diplomatic negotiations a chance,” Ravid reported on X.
The attack occurred against a backdrop of heightened rhetoric from the White House. President Trump recently threatened that the US military would strike an underground base allegedly concealed beneath Iran’s Mount Pikax if Washington fails to secure a deal with Tehran over its nuclear programme. Trump indicated that such a strike could happen “fairly soon,” raising the stakes in an already volatile stand-off.
Pre-emptive Strikes in Iraq
Simultaneously, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that American and Saudi forces had conducted joint strikes inside Iraq. The command claimed the targets were terrorist elements linked to Iran. In an official release, CENTCOM alleged that the militias struck had received direct orders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to attack US military personnel and Saudi energy infrastructure.
The military command specified that the operation targeted “several logistics sites and militant weapons storage facilities.” This joint action was framed as retaliation for what officials described as a barrage of “more than 30 drone attacks orchestrated by the IRGC over the past 72 hours.”
