KABUL (Pajhwok): The United States and Iran found themselves back on a war footing on Wednesday after the most significant exchange of fire in weeks, with Washington threatening even more devastating strikes.
The US military’s Central Command said it had completed a wave of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets on Tuesday, including air-defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites, Reuters reported.
Iranian media reported attacks on multiple targets across the country on Tuesday, many of them near the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has threatened oil tankers that transit the narrow waterway without authorization.
Iran, in turn, said it had struck US assets in Jordan and Iraq, according to official statements, while Iranian media reported that it had also attacked Bahrain.
Although the IRGC said it had killed a large number of US forces in Jordan, two US officials told Reuters that, according to initial assessments, there had been no casualties.
Jordan’s armed forces said its air-defense systems had dealt with 13 ballistic missiles that entered the kingdom’s airspace. Ten were intercepted, while three fell in remote areas. Bahrain said Iranian drones had been intercepted and destroyed.
The IRGC also said its ground forces had carried out combined missile and drone attacks on US bases in Erbil, northern Iraq, killing several US personnel. Neither Iraq nor the United States had confirmed the attack.
The exchange of fire marked the first serious combat since July, ending a period during which the warring parties had refrained from attacking each other but had also shown little interest in returning to negotiations.
The lull came as the conflict appeared to be taking a toll on both sides. Iran’s already ailing economy has been battered by the war, while its conventional military forces have been degraded.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is confronting higher fuel prices ahead of November’s congressional elections. The US Army has also used up much of its global stockpile of highly accurate, long-range missiles, Reuters reported last month, raising concerns about the military’s readiness for future conflicts.
Nonetheless, the renewal of hostilities prompted another exchange of defiant statements.
“I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing,” Trump said. “They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?”
Iran, meanwhile, threatened the United States and its allies.
“We warn that the continuation of American evil in the region will be met with heavier, more widespread, and devastating responses, and any country that cooperates with the aggressive American army must accept its dangerous consequences,” Iran’s joint military command said in a statement.
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