Iran fired multiple ballistic missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and the US military’s Central Command headquarters in Jordan in an attempted surprise attack in the early hours of Wednesday local time, per CENTCOM’s confirmed statement cited in the Fox News live blog. Trump said the American forces in Jordan had “just minutes” to respond and shoot down the incoming missiles. All were intercepted. The US then hit Iran with a “heavy wave of strikes” targeting dozens of IRGC command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities, a retaliation package completed at 10 p.m. ET Thursday.
“Attempted surprise attack” is CENTCOM’s language. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement carried by state-run IRNA that it had deliberately targeted both the airbase and CENTCOM’s Jordan headquarters. They are describing the same strikes as CENTCOM, from the opposite direction, with opposite characterizations of who started what and why. Both accounts involve the same missiles. The missiles were all intercepted, per CENTCOM. CENTCOM then struck Iran. The IRGC said it would continue.
Jordan’s military reported Thursday that its air defenses also shot down five additional Iranian missiles overnight, the day after the attempted attack on US troops. “There were no human casualties,” Petra News Agency reported. Three US soldiers were killed at the same Muwaffaq Salti base earlier this month in a separate Iranian attack. More than 50,000 US service members are currently deployed to the Middle East, per CENTCOM, which updated Thursday that it has redirected 20 ships and disabled two others in the Strait of Hormuz as part of the ongoing blockade of Iranian ports.
The Senate voted 49-50 on Thursday to kill the 13th Democrat-backed Iran War Powers resolution, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voting no with Republicans and Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Rand Paul voting yes with Democrats, and Mitch McConnell absent. Just 28% of US adults now approve of Trump’s handling of Iran, per a new AP poll, down from 34% the previous month. The strikes continue. The approval continues to decline. Both trends are moving in opposite directions.
The IDF separately announced it found dozens of Hezbollah weapons hidden in civilian infrastructure in the Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun, including anti-tank missiles, mortar bombs, and grenades. The war is expanding.
When Iran launches a surprise missile attack on US troops in Jordan and the US responds with a heavy wave of strikes and Jordan shoots down five more missiles the next day, what exactly is the ceasefire roadmap tracking?
Sources
Fox News Live: US hits Iran with heavy wave of strikes, July 30
