Published July 29, 2026
Jordan’s air defenses intercepted five missiles fired from Iran, the country’s military said, in what the U.S. military described as an “attempted surprise attack” by Iran on U.S. forces.
U.S. forces “remain alert and in a state of high readiness,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement early Wednesday.
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Later that day, US President Donald Trump signaled widespread retaliatory military action. “We’re going to hit them hard,” he told Fox News.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) earlier announced that its air force was targeting Muwafaq Salti Air Base and CENTOCOM Center in Jordan.
“As long as the threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran continues and the illegal and malicious actions of the U.S. military against our interests continue, resistance will continue,” the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement carried by state media, while also acknowledging that it had targeted ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Jordan’s military said in a statement announcing the missile intercept that it “does not tolerate any threats to its security”.
regional escalation
Meanwhile, a joint US and Saudi attack in Iraq on Wednesday killed at least 20 members of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and wounded 32 others, the group said.
The airstrikes were the first major U.S. military action in the region since last Friday, when President Trump called off an intensive bombing campaign after 13 days, claiming “good talks” were underway with Iran.
Saudi Arabia and Centcom said the joint airstrikes in Iraq targeted Iranian-backed militias responsible for attacks on U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure.
Al Jazeera’s Jack Hewson, reporting from Baghdad, said the attack was “clearly a significant incident for the PMF,” which is “legally part of the Iraqi National Army.”
Iraq’s presidential office condemned the “unacceptable attack” on PMF facilities. The government said it rejects any attack on Iraqi territory, but also opposes “the use of Iraqi soil as a launching pad or arena for attacks against neighboring countries.”
Mr Serdar said the recent attacks brought the region back into a state of tension “after several days of relative calm”.
Oil markets fluctuated after the U.S. military confirmed an attack on Iran on Wednesday, with U.S. crude futures prices rising more than 4% to more than $82 a barrel, having fallen after the U.S. government halted attacks on Iran. Brent crude oil futures rose to more than $88 per barrel.
“Sending message”
The latest escalation since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February came hours after President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
“This sends a message to President Trump that Iran needs to be involved in all discussions,” Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said from Washington, D.C. “This sends a message to President Trump that Iran needs to be involved in all discussions.”
“It has been reported in Israel that Prime Minister Netanyahu is very keen to raise the issue of Pickaxe Mountain. The Israeli side has said that construction work is progressing there, but we believe that the Iranian side is building a new nuclear facility.”
Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera that Tehran is “trying to regain the initiative and momentum with the latest attacks.”
“Iran has expressed skepticism that the United States is using such pauses between attacks to prepare for the next phase of violence, so Tehran likely believes the United States is doing just that with this pause.”
Holmes continues to be nervous
The Strait of Hormuz and its shipping traffic has become a major talking point for President Trump, who has criticized Iran’s blockade of some ships.
Iran claims it has the right to control ships passing through the strait.
The Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that it had “collided and stopped” three oil tankers in Hormuz, Tasnim news agency reported.
The agency said the tanker “ignored our warnings and continued traveling along a dangerous and illegal route.”
Oman proposed to Iran joint control of traffic in the strait, but Iran rejected the proposal.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Ghalibabadi told state television that Iran had refused to divide the transport route equally.
Instead, he proposed that Tehran control shipping on its side of the strait, while Muscat control some, but not all, of the oncoming lanes.
