Iran launched a new retaliatory attack after the United States struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran on Tuesday, while Jordan said its air defenses intercepted most of the ballistic missiles that entered its airspace.
The new angle is the retaliation after Tuesday’s U.S. strike wave. List25 already covered the start of the U.S. operation earlier today. The latest reporting adds the next phase: Iran says it fired back, Jordan says 10 of 13 missiles were intercepted, and U.S. officials told Reuters there were no casualties so far.
The Associated Press reported that U.S. Central Command said it had completed its latest round of attacks against Iranian military targets, including air defense sites, radar systems and maritime assets. AP also reported that President Donald Trump warned more strikes could follow if Tehran continued retaliating.
Reuters, carried by Al-Monitor, reported that the IRGC said it launched a heavy ballistic missile attack on a U.S. Marine Corps base in Jordan. Jordan’s armed forces said 13 ballistic missiles entered the kingdom’s airspace, 10 were intercepted and three fell in remote areas away from population centers.
U.S. Officials Report No Casualties So Far
Reuters reported that two U.S. officials said there were no casualties so far from the Iranian attack on facilities in Jordan, based on initial information. That directly undercuts the IRGC’s claim, carried by Iranian media, that its strike caused heavy U.S. losses.
The Guardian also reported Jordan’s statement that 10 of 13 incoming ballistic missiles were destroyed. It said Reuters and Al Jazeera had both reported, citing U.S. sources, that there were no injuries or damage to the barracks targeted in Jordan.
The competing claims are important. Iran is presenting the attack as a serious retaliation. U.S. and Jordanian accounts, at least initially, point to a largely intercepted strike with no confirmed American casualties.
Casualty Reports Inside Iran Add Pressure
The U.S. strikes also brought new civilian-casualty claims from southern Iran. Reuters reported that Iran’s Red Crescent said five people were killed and 50 wounded at a wedding near Sirik, a coastal area on the Strait of Hormuz. The Guardian reported a toll of at least four killed and more than 50 injured, citing the Red Crescent. The United States has not commented on those reports.
The Associated Press separately reported that Iranian state media said a U.S. strike hit a home where a wedding ceremony was being held in Kuhestak in southern Iran, killing two people and wounding at least 20 others, citing a local official. AP also reported Iranian state TV accounts of strikes on civilian sites, including Jiroft Airport, while noting that U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to those specific claims.
Those casualty reports remain attributed to Iranian officials and humanitarian accounts, but they raise the political cost of any further exchange. Trump warned on social media that Iran would be hit at a “much harder and higher level” if it retaliated, while Tehran said the U.S. attacks would tighten its pressure around the Strait of Hormuz.
Why This Escalation Matters
The crisis is again moving quickly from economic pressure back into direct military action. Reuters reported that oil prices rose more than $4 a barrel Tuesday and settled at a five-week high as the renewed strikes deepened fears over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carried roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil before the war.
The immediate risk is another round of action and counteraction. Washington says its strikes targeted IRGC capabilities tied to shipping attacks and threats to U.S. personnel. Tehran says it is retaliating against aggression and warning that Gulf oil exports remain vulnerable if Iran’s own exports are blocked.
For now, the confirmed development is serious enough on its own: the U.S. strike wave has been followed by an Iranian missile attack into Jordanian airspace, with Jordan reporting most missiles intercepted and U.S. officials saying no casualties have been confirmed so far.
Featured image: U.S. Navy ships transit the Strait of Hormuz. Public domain image via U.S. Navy/Wikimedia Commons.