Iran says it has attacked US bases in Jordan and US military assets in the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for strikes on Larak Island in the first active exchange between the two sides since late July.<\/p>\n
The Iranian response came after the United States claimed to have hit two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. A US official told Al Jazeera Arabic following the attack that the launchers were preparing to fire missiles carrying naval mines towards the waterway.<\/p>\n
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In his first comments since the attack, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was \u201cnot looking for war\u201d, but would \u201cnever sit still in the face of any aggression\u201d either.<\/p>\n
Iran \u201cwill give a decisive response to the aggressors\u201d if attacked, Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency Fars. \u201cInstability and unrest in the region are not in the interest of any country and will challenge everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know so far and what could happen to the diplomatic efforts to end the six-month-old war that has disrupted global oil supply and jolted the global economy.<\/p>\n
What happened?<\/p>\n
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the US attacks on Sunday night had killed and wounded several Iranian soldiers and civilians.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Fars news agency also reported IRGC spokesperson Sardar Mohebi accusing the US of making \u201ca strategic and fatal mistake\u201d for which it will face consequences \u201cin both the economic and military arenas\u201d.<\/p>\n
But on Monday morning, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X that the IRGC\u2019s statement that the attack on Larak Island was an \u201cact of aggression\u201d was false, and said forces took \u201climited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn essence, Iran created the threat and the US military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce,\u201d it added on X.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that Kharg Island is being \u201cblown to smithereens\u201d in a post on his Truth Social platform. Iran has yet to comment on Trump\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n
Last week, the US president said all mines \u200chad been detonated or removed from the waterway, and Iran was told that any ship or boat placing new mines would be destroyed.<\/p>\n
What has been the response?<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the US strike on Larak Island in a statement as a \u201cdirect violation of national sovereignty and territorial integrity\u201d.<\/p>\n
It added the attack caused civilian and military casualties.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the US strikes, the IRGC said a combined missile and drone operation targeted the King Hussein and Al Azraq US military bases in Jordan, according to Iranian media.<\/p>\n
The strikes \u201cdestroyed the technical and repair infrastructure, as well as the enemy fighter deployment sites\u201d, causing significant damage, the IRGC said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Tehran dubbed the strikes on Jordan as \u201ca legitimate exercise of self-defence\u201d under the UN Charter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIranian armed forces launched retaliatory missile strikes against US military positions in Jordan, targeting bases identified as the launching ground for a Sunday night attack on Larak Island,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAggression and crimes will not solve the enemy\u2019s desperation in attempting to weaken the Islamic Republic\u2019s control over the Strait of Hormuz, and every attack will be met with even more devastating responses.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, a US official told Al Jazeera Arabic that they were able to intercept Iran\u2019s attacks against Jordan, adding that \u201cthe missile attack on US forces in Jordan proves that Iran is no longer the power it once was\u201d.<\/p>\n
They added that Tehran had launched medium-range ballistic missiles towards Jordan.<\/p>\n
And in a statement released on Monday, Jordan\u2019s army said it had intercepted eight missiles fired by Iran. \u201cAir defence systems intercepted eight missiles that breached the Kingdom\u2019s airspace at dawn today,\u201d read the statement, quoting the army\u2019s spokesperson.<\/p>\n
Early on Monday morning, Iran\u2019s Fars and Mehr news agencies cited a statement from the IRGC that said its air defences had intercepted \u201ca long-range American MQ9 drone\u201d over the Strait of Hormuz, which then fell into the Gulf.<\/p>\n
Harlan Ullman, a retired US senior naval officer, told Al Jazeera that the attacks on Jordan were a \u201cpolitical statement\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are signalling to Jordan that it is a target,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a politically significant target,\u201d he said, adding that the Iranian attack was carried out \u201cwith malice aforethought, not necessarily to impose damage on the Americans, but to tell the Jordanians: Are you sure you want to support the Americans?\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s army also said in a statement carried by Iranian news agencies that dozens of drones were launched at US military assets at the Al Menhad airbase in the UAE.<\/p>\n
It said the attack targeted \u2060locations where US forces \u2060and helicopters were stationed at \u2060the base, adding that it was revenge for members of the IRGC and civilians who had been killed during the attack on Larak Island.<\/p>\n
On Monday morning, the UAE\u2019s Ministry of Defence said its air force responded to a drone over its territorial waters, approaching from Iran. The ministry, however, rejected Iranian claims that its airbase was targeted.<\/p>\n
UAE\u2019s ministry of foreign affairs \u201cstrongly condemned the Iranian aggression\u201d in a post on X.<\/p>\n
Still, Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry said it would respond decisively to any further military aggression and said the US and parties supporting its actions were fully responsible for any escalation.<\/p>\n
What does this mean?<\/p>\n
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera\u2019s Manuel Rapalo explained that the tit-for-tat exchanges are the scenario that US diplomats who have been working with other countries to bring a diplomatic off-ramp did not want.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump administration has been signalling over the course of the last week that talks have deteriorated, that diplomacy has lost momentum, and we have seen that shift in strategy away from kinetic action and towards economic pressure,\u201d Rapalo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something that the treasury secretary spoke about specifically on Sunday, saying that there would be more sanctions coming up in the next few days,\u201d he said, referring to economic sanctions targeting entities accused of doing business with Iran.<\/p>\n
Last week, the US announced the latest sanctions on Iran in what officials called an \u201ceconomic D-Day\u201d and officially named \u201cOperation Economic Outcast\u201d, as Washington intensifies pressure on Tehran six months into the war.<\/p>\n
Tehran, which has been under US sanctions for decades, says the new economic pressure will fail and shows that the US\u2019s military approach has not worked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran says it has attacked US bases in Jordan and US military assets in the United Arab Emirates…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1034796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,83,18151,3097,1802,50,52,10317,67,72,272944],"class_list":["post-1034795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-jordan","tag-middle-east","tag-military","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-united-arab-emirates","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-us-israel-war-on-iran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117189850385616025","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1034796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}