Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on airbases in Jordan after the United States attacked Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the strait of Hormuz, the first such strikes in a month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can confirm that earlier today US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak island,\u201d a US official said on Sunday. \u201cIslamic \u2060Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the strait of Hormuz.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s \u2060Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said the US attack killed and wounded several soldiers and citizens and \u200bwould be met with a \u201cresponse \u200cand punishment\u201d from \u200cTehran, Iranian state media reported.<\/p>\n
In response, the IRGC \u201ctargeted technical infrastructure, maintenance facilities, and enemy fighter jet positions at the US-operated King Hussein and al-Azraq airbases in Jordan\u201d with ballistic missiles, causing \u201cheavy damage\u201d, according to state TV.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said the US would pay for the attack economically and militarily, according to the semi-official news agency Fars.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the US attack was \u200ca drone strike.<\/p>\n
On Sunday night, Reuters reported a US source as saying that all incoming missiles on US forces in Jordan had been intercepted with no significant impact so far.<\/p>\n
The exchange of strikes came shortly after the US-Iran war hit the six-month mark, and at a time when hostilities had been subsiding.<\/p>\n
The US said its attacks were aimed at preventing Iran from launching more sea mines into the strait, days after it announced it had completed clearing explosives from the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump said last week that all mines had been detonated or removed from the international waters of the strait of Hormuz and Iran had been told that any ship or boat placing new mines would be destroyed.<\/p>\n
The last known \u200cUS strikes on Iran were in late July and the war has reached a stalemate in recent weeks, with Washington threatening \u200bto impose costly sanctions on countries that support Iran.<\/p>\n