File image.
Iran’s armed forces have announced new rounds of retaliatory strikes against the United States, hitting military targets in Kuwait and Jordan with missiles and drones following an overnight American attack on the Islamic Republic.
The operations began late on July 15, with the the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warning that Iran’s response is for now focused on U.S. offensive infrastructure in the region.
The IRGC said that during the eighth wave of what it calls “Operation Nasr-2” its Navy and Aerospace Force carried out a combined missile and drone operation. According to the Guards, the strikes hit the early warning radar of a C-RAM system at Kuwait’s Ali al-Salem Air Base, along with a gathering point used by American personnel. It described the result as a serious blow to U.S. forces.
The IRGC addressed the Kuwaiti public directly, noting that the U.S. was using Kuwaiti territory to carry out attacks on Iran, and calling on Kuwaitis to press for the removal of American forces from their country.
Separately, Iran’s army said it carried out a drone strike on U.S. facilities in Jordan as the ninth phase of what it calls “Operation Saeqeh.”
The army said loitering munitions hit a fixed radar site, communications systems and fuel depots used by U.S. forces at al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan, describing the base as a major command and missile-defense hub for American operations in the region.
It said the strike was carried out in response to earlier attacks on Iranian territory, including one on the Bampur Army garrison in Iranshahr that killed seven non-commissioned officers and soldiers from the Ground Force.
The army condemned the attack on the barracks, saying its personnel would not step back from defending the country or from avenging those killed.
Blasts were reported in Jordan and Kuwait, in addition to Bahrain, although Iran’s armed forces did not announce launching any strikes against the latter.
Additionally, IRGC spokesperson Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi said in a post on X that Iran’s adversaries should not expect to drag the conflict into a war of attrition, writing that “the enemy should not assume that it can sustain the current dynamics of the battlefield and turn the war into a war of attrition.”
He said Iran’s current operations are focused on dismantling U.S. offensive infrastructure in the region, with further phases to follow.
The IRGC separately said its air defense units intercepted and shot down a U.S. one-way attack drone, identified as a LUCAS model, over Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, after it was detected by the country’s integrated air defense network and hit by a surface-to-air missile system.
In a further statement, the Guards said it had also intercepted and destroyed an MQ-9 Reaper combat drone over the southern city of Andimeshk using an air defense system operated by its Aerospace Force.
Click to see full-size image. (X)
U.S. Central Command confirmed that its forces struck Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities overnight, saying in a statement that the strikes were carried out to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten innocent mariners crewing commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
The command added that its forces used precision munitions to strike targets in multiple locations including Bandar Abbas.
Iran and the United States have been exchanging strikes since April 7 in a limited confrontation that has left the memorandum of understanding signed last month to end the war in shambles.
More escalation is to be expected, as recent reports suggest U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing expanding military operations against the Islamic Republic. A return to full-on war is becoming increasingly likely, and Israel could soon rejoin the fight — possibly along with some Gulf states.
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