The United States military says it intercepted ballistic missiles fired by Iran across the Middle East.
In a statement on X on Wednesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched multiple ballistic missiles in an “attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East”.
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All the missiles were intercepted, and “US forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness”, the statement added.
Five missile interceptions were reported over Jordan, according to the Jordan News Agency.
The IRGC said its air force targeted a US airbase and Central Command centre in Jordan, “with several ballistic missiles”.
“As long as threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran continue and illegal and vicious actions by American forces against our interests continue, the resistance will continue,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s IRIB broadcaster.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said the latest escalation seemed like a “pre-emptive attack, not a reactionary measure”, from the Iranians.
Meanwhile, joint US-Saudi strikes in Iraq on Wednesday killed at least 20 members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and wounded 32 other members, according to the group.
Those strikes marked the first major US military action in the Middle East since last Friday, when US President Donald Trump suspended an intensive bombing campaign after 13 days, claiming “good talks” were under way with Iran.
Saudi Arabia and the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said their joint air strikes in Iraq targeted Iran-backed militias responsible for attacks on US troops and Saudi energy infrastructure.
Al Jazeera’s Jack Hewson, reporting from Baghdad, said the attack is “obviously a major incident for the PMF,” which is “legally part of Iraq’s state forces”.
Serdar said the latest attacks have put the region back “on edge again after days of relative calm”.
Oil markets fluctuated after the US military confirmed Iran’s attack on Wednesday, with US oil futures – which had previously been dropping amid Washington suspension of strikes on Iran – jumping more than 4 percent to more than $82 a barrel. Brent crude futures went to more than $88 a barrel.
‘Sending a message’
The Iranian attacks targeting US bases came as Trump was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been pushing for war on Iran, in the White House.
“This is Iran sending a message to Trump that they need to be involved in all discussions,” Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said from Washington, DC.
“It was reported in Israel that Netanyahu was very keen to raise the question of Pickaxe Mountain. The Israelis said there has been building work going ahead there; they believe the Iranians are putting together another nuclear facility”, he said.
Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera that Tehran is “trying to retake the initiative and the momentum with these latest attacks”.
“Iran has expressed scepticism that the US engages in these pauses between attacks to prepare for another phase of violence, so Tehran likely thinks the US is doing just that with this latest pause”, he said.
On Wednesday, Reuters cited three informed sources as saying Iran was expected to receive an initial shipment of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers within weeks, in one of its largest-known efforts to boost its short-range air defences since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against it.
The Strait of Hormuz and its shipping traffic have been major talking points for Trump, who has decried Iran’s blocking of some vessels.
Iran asserts that it is within its rights to control shipping through the strait.
On Wednesday, the IRGC said it “struck and stopped” three oil tankers in Hormuz, according to Tasnim news agency.
It said the tankers “continued to move along an unsafe and illegal route, ignoring our warnings”,
Oman has presented Iran with a proposal to jointly manage traffic in the strait, but Iran has rejected it.
Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state television that Tehran rejected splitting transit routes equally.
Instead, he said, Tehran proposed managing shipping on its side of the strait, while Muscat would manage part but not all of the opposite lane.
