American forces struck Guard installations, missile and drone storage sites, coastal defenses and maritime assets after an Iranian attack killed two U.S. service members and left another missing in Jordan.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The U.S. military launched a new round of strikes against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Sunday, directly targeting the powerful paramilitary organization in retaliation for an Iranian attack that killed American service members at a base in Jordan.
U.S. Central Command said the operation struck Revolutionary Guard facilities along with “Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities and missile and drone storage sites.”
The announcement marked the first time during the current campaign that Central Command specifically identified the Revolutionary Guard as a target. The organization is a central pillar of Iran’s government and controls much of the country’s ballistic missile arsenal and other military capabilities.
The retaliatory operation followed an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack against a base in Jordan that killed two U.S. service members, left another missing and required four others to be hospitalized, according to the American military.
The four hospitalized service members were later discharged. The identities of those killed and missing were not immediately released.
Sixteen U.S. service members have been killed and more than 430 wounded since the war began, according to the figures provided.
Video released by the U.S. military appeared to show fighter aircraft and sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles carrying out Sunday’s attacks. One target appeared to be situated within a valley in a mountainous area.
The Revolutionary Guard has long positioned missile installations, storage sites and other military equipment within Iran’s mountain ranges, where the terrain can provide concealment and protection from aerial surveillance and attack.
Iran has not released a comprehensive assessment of the weapons, equipment or facilities destroyed during the eight-day American campaign.
Iranian officials said Saturday that the latest U.S. attacks had killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 500.
Sunday’s strikes further widened a war that has increasingly focused on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage at the entrance to the Persian Gulf through which approximately one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas moved during peacetime.
The latest phase of the U.S. campaign began as Washington and Tehran fought for control of the strategic waterway. The conflict has since spread across the Middle East, with Iran attacking countries that host American forces or cooperate with the United States.
Nearly every Gulf Arab country has been targeted in Iranian retaliatory operations. The United Arab Emirates had not been struck as of Sunday, although an Iranian news organization issued a warning involving major Emirati airports and ports.
The semiofficial Fars news agency, which is considered close to the Revolutionary Guard, quoted an unidentified official Saturday who threatened the Emirates if attacks against Iranian civilian infrastructure continued.
The “airports of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as the ports of Fujairah and Jebel Ali, must be immediately evacuated,” the official said.
The United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry responded by urging restraint and warning against expanding the conflict further.
The ministry called “for exercising the utmost restraint in order to avoid dangerous repercussions and the region being pulled into new levels of violence and instability.”
“The UAE emphasized that the targeting of civilian infrastructure and civilian facilities in the region … constitute a flagrant and grave violation of the established principles and provisions of international law, and cannot, under any circumstances, be accepted or justified,” the statement added.
Officials have said the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia conducted retaliatory airstrikes against Tehran after Iran targeted their countries during the war.
Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, secretary-general of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, accused Iran of committing war crimes through attacks on civilian facilities and essential infrastructure.
Kuwait and Bahrain again activated their air-defense systems Sunday morning after warning residents and military personnel about incoming Iranian missiles and drones.
Iranian attacks have caused extensive damage in Kuwait, where strikes have hit power-generating infrastructure, oil facilities and desalination plants that provide most of the country’s drinking water.
Kuwait depends on desalination for approximately 90% of its water supply. Recent attacks have damaged multiple facilities and threatened daily life in the small, oil-producing desert nation.
The United States has meanwhile expanded its own target list inside Iran.
President Donald Trump previously threatened to strike Iranian bridges and power stations as part of an effort to force Tehran to relinquish its control of the Strait of Hormuz. Recent attacks indicate that the military has begun carrying out portions of that strategy, initially concentrating on coastal areas bordering the waterway.
American forces have struck bridges, electricity facilities, coastal surveillance positions, air defenses, maritime assets and weapons-storage sites.
The United States also reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports during the past week in an effort to stop Tehran’s crude-oil exports.
The military said Saturday that American forces had redirected five vessels and disabled another since the blockade was restored.
Iranian forces have continued threatening countries that assist the U.S. military or allow American personnel to operate from their territory.
Iran’s joint military command said American “covetousness, bullying, totalitarianism or brutality” would receive a “devastating response.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a separate warning Saturday that the United States would receive “unforgettable lessons” if it continued attacking the Islamic Republic.
The intensified military operations follow the collapse of an interim agreement negotiated approximately one month ago to create a path toward permanently ending the war.
An Iranian negotiator said Tehran had suspended its commitments under the agreement, accusing Washington of failing to honor its obligations.
The collapse of the arrangement removed another potential restraint on the fighting as both countries expanded their attacks and the war spread deeper into neighboring Gulf states.
Control of the Strait of Hormuz remains at the center of the confrontation. Iran has sought to restrict commercial shipping through the passage and has demanded authority over vessels using the route.
The United States has responded through airstrikes, maritime interdictions and renewed efforts to block Iran’s oil exports.
Sunday’s direct attacks against the Revolutionary Guard signaled another escalation by Washington, shifting the campaign toward the Iranian institution responsible for much of Tehran’s missile, drone and regional military activity.
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