Iran says it launched retaliatory strikes on bases hosting US troops in Middle East

Iran said Monday that it had launched ballistic missiles and drones at military bases hosting U.S. forces in the Middle East in retaliation for American strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz.

The exchange marked a renewed flare-up in direct fighting between the United States and Iran after weeks of relative calm in the war, which is now in its seventh month.

The Iranian strikes targeted technical and maintenance infrastructure at King Hussein and Al Azraq air bases in Jordan, including areas “where enemy fighter jets were stationed,” Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said Monday, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The operation “inflicted heavy damage on the targets,” IRNA said, quoting the guard corps.

A U.S. official said there were no impacts at U.S. bases but offered no further details. The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Jordan’s armed forces said the country’s air defenses intercepted eight missiles that had entered the country’s airspace earlier that day.

In a statement on X, the Jordanian military did not identify who had launched the missiles or their intended targets but said they were destroyed before posing a threat to people or property.

Iran’s army separately said it used attack drones to target areas where U.S. personnel and helicopters were stationed at Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, IRNA reported.

The UAE air force responded to a drone detected over territorial waters approaching from Iran, but denied that Al Minhad itself had been attacked, the Emirati defense ministry said.

A satellite image shows Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on the island this week after Central Command said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps units were observed preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the strait. (Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2026)

Iran called the attacks retaliation for U.S. strikes Sunday on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM, which oversees military activity in the Middle East, confirmed that it had taken “limited, precise action” against Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces that were attempting to lay mines in the strait.

An Iranian claim that the strikes were an act of aggression is absolutely false, CENTCOM said Monday on X.

“U.S. forces took limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said. “In essence, Iran created the threat and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce.”

A missile launches from a desert location in a photo released by U.S. Central Command on Jan. 13, 2026. The U.S. war in the Middle East escalated again this week after American strikes on Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz. (U.S. Navy)

During the operation, U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak after Guard personnel were noticed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the strait, Reuters reported, citing an unidentified U.S. official.

CENTCOM said last week that it had cleared Iranian sea mines from international transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

Sunday’s attack marked the first known U.S. strike on Iran since July 29, when CENTCOM said it carried out a “heavy wave of strikes” against Iranian military targets following attempted attacks on U.S. forces a day earlier.

Iran’s claimed attacks on the Jordanian bases come about six weeks after three U.S. soldiers were killed in an Iranian attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in the country.

Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, and Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, both assigned to the Germany-based 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, were killed in the July 17 attack.

The following day, 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan, 25, of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command based at Fort Bragg, N.C., died from injuries sustained in the attack, according to the Defense Department.

In total, 759 U.S. service members have been wounded in action and 18 killed during the war, according to the Pentagon’s latest casualty count.

The renewed military confrontation comes amid continuing threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints.

Oil flows through the strait were equivalent to about 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption in the first half of 2025, while more than 20% of global liquefied natural gas trade passed through the waterway, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center said Sunday that a tanker had been struck the previous day by an unknown projectile while traveling into the strait about 12 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman.

No casualties or environmental damage were reported, according to the center, which said authorities were investigating.

Last week, new U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s military activities, oil trade and international financial connections were announced as part of an effort to further isolate Tehran economically.

The White House said Thursday that there were no ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran over the war, which started Feb. 28.