IRAN struck US military positions in two countries yesterday morning, just hours after an American attack on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, in a two-pronged response mounted separately by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the Army.
The IRGC Aerospace Force said a combined missile and drone operation had hit King Hussein Air Base northeast of Mafraq, and Muwaffaq Salti Air Base at Azraq, both in Jordan, striking technical and repair infrastructure and fighter deployment sites.
The Army said dozens of suicide drones had struck locations housing US military helicopters and personnel at al-Minhad Air Base, 24 kilometres south of Dubai, describing it as an important logistics and air transport hub for foreign forces.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday night’s US attack on Larak Island killed and injured servicemen of the armed forces and civilians and damaged public and private property. It called the attack a clear violation of the United Nations Charter and Iran had acted in accordance with its inherent right of self-defence under Article 51, delivering what it called ‘defensive and crushing blows’ to the bases that were the origin and support of the aggression.
The ministry urged the Security Council and the UN secretary general to hold the aggressor accountable, and said the only factor behind insecurity in the Persian Gulf shipping routes had been the actions of the United States and Israel, including a naval blockade now in its sixth month.
‘Every shot fired will be met with an even more forceful response,’ the IRGC said.
The war began on 28 February with joint US and Israeli strikes. Tehran and Washington signed the Islamabad memorandum of understanding on 17 June, but Iran says repeated US attacks on its south have violated this memorandum, and it has suspended contact pending an end to the strikes.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu of drawing Washington into the war. ‘In Hebrew, Netanyahu openly crows that he suckered the US Administration into a war on Iran on behalf of Israel,’ he wrote, citing the Israeli prime minister’s claim to have secured American backing through a thousand hours on US television. ‘In English, he praises POTUS’s (president of the US)’ leadership. Serpent.’
A classified assessment reported by the Washington Post found the campaign is straining US forces. Navy chief Admiral Daryl Caudle told War Secretary Pete Hegseth the service could not sustain its present level of support with no end date in sight, with barely a quarter of the destroyer fleet ready to deploy.
