ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States and Iran traded fresh military strikes on Thursday, with Washington saying it targeted Iranian military infrastructure while Tehran claimed it had destroyed facilities and fighter jets at a US air base in Jordan.
In a statement, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had "completed additional self-defense strikes against multiple targets in Iran," adding that the operation targeted "Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites across Iran."
It added that US Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy assets fired "precision munitions on Iranian targets that posed a threat to U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters."
"The strikes are in response to Iran's unwarranted and continued aggression. U.S. forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready," CENTCOM said.
Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it had launched 12 ballistic missiles against what it described as deployment sites for US fighter aircraft and military facilities at Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan.
"To punish the aggressor, 12 ballistic missiles were launched this morning targeting the deployment sites of American F-35, F-15, and F-16 fighters, as well as significant facilities of the terrorist US army located at the Al-Azraq Air Base and Control Center, destroying those facilities and a large number of fighter jets," the IRGC said in a statement.
Following the attacks, Kuwait said it temporarily closed its airspace from 4:50 am and diverted flights to other airports following Iranian attacks in the region.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement the move was taken due to “potential risks this poses to civil aviation in the region,” adding that airspace would reopen once “the situation has ended and the causes of the danger have been eliminated.”
The IRGC said the missile attack came in response to what it called US strikes on "a recreational site, a manufacturing complex, and a garrison compound around Karaj and Nazarabad, as well as a local IRGC base in Pishva," in Alborz and Tehran provinces.
The latest exchange follows a rise in tensions between Washington and Tehran, even as talks continue for a lasting ceasefire after six weeks of fighting that began in late February.
Late Wednesday, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the fresh strikes on Iran are geared to “advance our military interest and advance our diplomatic position.”
He added, “We will hit them hard on our terms on the targets that improve the environments for us to operate in, and undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have.”
Hegseth’s remarks followed a statement by US President Donald Trump who noted that US forces would launch additional strikes against Iran, for the second day in a row, after both sides exchanged missile attacks on dozens of targets earlier in the morning.
"We hit them hard yesterday, and we're going to hit them again hard today," Trump said. He added that Iranian forces had "shot at our helicopter," but that the two crew members aboard were rescued and were "fortunately okay."
Meanwhile, Iran's IRGC said on Wednesday that it responded to the American strikes by targeting at least 21 alleged US sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, using long-range solid-fuel missiles.
The escalation notably followed a statement by Iran’s chief diplomat Abbas Araghchi, who warned foreign forces “in proximity to our territory” that they are “at constant risk on account of human error, accidents, or being caught in crossfire,” urging them to “exit as soon as possible.”
Araghchi further noted that while Tehran “prefers the language of diplomacy,” its “brave warriors know how to speak other languages too,” signalling keenness to respond militarily.
