Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles towards US military bases across the Middle East on Wednesday morning, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed in a post on X/Twitter.
“Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East,” the post explained.
A US official told The Jerusalem Post that Iran had launched at least four ballistic missiles towards a US military base in Jordan, adding that “This was a major attack.”
Shortly before CENTCOM confirmed that the IRGC had launched a number of ground-to-ground missiles at US bases across the region, Iranian negotiator Seyed Mohammad Marandi announced that Iran was “fully prepared for all out war,” in a post on X.
Missiles, drones launched at Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabian air defenses intercepted and destroyed several drones that attempted to target oil facilities in its Eastern Province on Tuesday night, the Saudi defense ministry spokesperson reported.
Turki al-Maliki, the spokesperson, said that the drones were launched from Iraqi territory by Iranian-backed militias.
Saudi Arabia reserves the legitimate right to defend itself and its national capabilities and retains the right to respond “at the appropriate time and place,” al-Maliki added.
Additionally, on Wednesday morning Yemen’s Houthis said that they had fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea. A military spokesperson for the Houthis said the vessel had breached a newly declared maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia.
Shortly before the Houthi announcement, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Opersations (UKMTO) center said that a tanker had reported hearing an explosion in the Red Sea.
CENTCOM paused attacks on Iran for negotiations to reopen Hormuz
The US military was attacking Iran nightly from July 8 to July 24, but paused attacks to allow for negotiations between the two countries aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“We are in very deep talks with Iran, if they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” US President Donald Trump told Axios on Monday.
The president said he paused strikes to give negotiations another chance, but added that the talk would “Either go fast or not at all,” adding that countries involved in the talks told him to hold back from further escalations.
“If the [US] attacks stop, Iran will also halt its operations,” a senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday.
The official added that “There is more skepticism than optimism about the halt in attacks. The prevailing view is that the pause is tactical rather than genuine.”
Reuters contributed to this report.