Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones at American military positions in Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq and Kuwait overnight into Wednesday, hours after U.S. forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets along Iran's southern coast.
Al Jazeera reported that it was the heaviest exchange between the two countries in more than a month. The war began Feb. 28, and the latest round centered on the Gulf shipping lanes that both sides have contested through the year.
U.S. Central Command said its forces hit IRGC air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications facilities. The command said the strikes followed attempted Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on American service members.
Iranian state media said one American munition hit a house in Kuhestak, in Sirik County of Hormozgan province, during a wedding. Iranian officials put the toll at four to five dead and dozens wounded. CENTCOM spokesman Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins said the command was aware of the reports and was looking into them. "The U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC," Hawkins said in a statement cited by CBS News. The casualty figures come from Iranian state outlets and have not been independently verified. They stood at that level as of Wednesday evening Eastern time.
The IRGC said it responded with a missile salvo on Camp Titin, a Marine Corps site near the Gulf of Aqaba, and on Prince Hassan Air Base, where it claimed to have destroyed hangars holding RQ-4 and MQ-9 drones and killed American pilots and technical personnel. Jordan's military said it intercepted 10 of 13 missiles that entered its airspace, with the remainder falling on open ground. A U.S. official told Al Jazeera there were no injuries or significant damage at Camp Titin. CBS News reported that CENTCOM rejected the casualty claim and noted that the American military maintains no bases of its own inside Jordan, operating instead from Jordanian facilities.
Bahrain's Interior Ministry issued repeated shelter alerts as air defenses engaged drones directed at Sheikh Isa Air Base, where Tehran says U.S. forces are stationed. Kuwait said its air defenses confronted hostile drones and missiles. In northern Iraq, the Guard claimed a combined missile and drone attack destroyed a repair center and equipment warehouses in Erbil province, a claim Al Jazeera said it could not verify. Bahrain condemned the attacks on all three countries as a violation of sovereignty and international law.
President Donald Trump said the Tuesday night strikes were a response to an earlier Iranian attack on American forces in Jordan, and said a larger operation remained possible. If Iran struck again, he wrote, "there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran," The Washington Times reported. Iran's Foreign Ministry has said the American strikes violated its sovereignty and that Tehran reserves the right to respond.
The exchange has not closed the strait. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Wednesday that more than 17 million barrels of oil moved through Hormuz on Monday, a record since the war began, and that regional exports were running above prewar levels once the Saudi and Emirati bypass pipelines are counted. About 20 million barrels a day passed through before the fighting started.
U.S. markets closed higher. The S&P 500 rose 0.46% Wednesday to 7,666.60, ending a three-day losing streak as Treasury yields eased from multiyear highs.