Jordanian air defenses shoot down 5 missiles launched from Iran, state-run news agency says
CAIRO (AP) — Jordan’s air defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran Thursday morning, the country's state-run Petra news agency said, hours after the U.S. military announced it had completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.
No casualties were reported from Jordan's interception of the missiles, the news agency quoted the spokesman for the country's armed forces as saying.
The U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that for over two hours the U.S. had struck “dozens” of targets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, including military command centers as well as missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance and defense sites.
The new strikes came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “very hard” after it targeted a base in Jordan that hosts U.S. troops.
Iranian state media said two people were wounded in attacks on the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz and that explosions were also reported in Khuzestan province to the northwest.
The latest barrage came after the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a U.S.-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker. No injuries were reported.
The flare-ups on multiple fronts after several days of relative calm raised the risk of a return to all-out war. It also underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy and is unpopular among Americans. The fighting was also likely to add to concerns that the U.S. is further drawing down already diminished stockpiles of sophisticated munitions needed to defend its bases and allies.
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