TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they carried out attacks on a US base in Jordan and 21 other targets across the Gulf on Wednesday, in retaliation for American strikes around the Strait of Hormuz.
The clashes mark one of the largest exchanges of hostilities since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in April.
According to Iranian claims, the strikes included targets in Kuwait and Bahrain and came shortly after the US military said on X that it had hit Iranian air defence systems, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz. The US action was reportedly in response to what President Donald Trump described as the downing of a US Apache helicopter on Tuesday.
Trump told ABC News that he believed the response “should be very strong, very powerful,” adding that the US operation reflected that approach.
The escalation has raised fresh doubts about prospects for a broader deal to end the war that began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Tehran responded by attacking US bases and assets across Gulf countries and further disrupting activity around the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil and gas route.
The latest US strikes reportedly lasted around four hours, after which US Central Command said operations had ended. A US official said nearly 20 Iranian targets were hit during the strikes.
Iranian state media reported explosions on Qeshm Island and in the port city of Sirik, both located near the Strait of Hormuz.
Residents also reported hearing blasts in Bandar Abbas and later near Jask, close to the entrance of the strategic waterway, according to local media sources.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards claimed they used long-range missiles to destroy four major targets in Jordan, including F-35 fighter positions at an airbase and the US command centre in Al-Azraq, according to a statement carried by state-run IRNA.
Jordan’s military said it intercepted five missiles fired from Iran and confirmed there were no casualties or material damage.
The conflict also spread across the region, with air raid sirens sounding in Bahrain after the Guards claimed to have targeted another US base there.
Kuwait’s military said its air defence systems were engaging hostile aerial objects and urged citizens to follow official safety instructions after Iran said it had targeted the Ali Al-Salem base with drones.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said they struck the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain with drones and warned of “more severe responses” if hostilities continued, according to Iranian media.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry confirmed that warning sirens were activated and urged residents to take shelter. A media adviser to the Bahraini king later said air defences had repelled the attacks.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned of retaliation, writing on X that the US had “opted to test our determination” and that Iranian armed forces would respond to any attack or threat.
Oil prices rose by about one per cent in early Asian trading following the escalation in hostilities.
During the strikes, Iranian media also reported at least two waves of explosions along Iran’s southern coast near the Strait of Hormuz.
Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump had said negotiations to end the three-month-long conflict were in their final stages, repeating claims he has made several times in recent weeks.
He initially suggested a deal could be reached within “two or three days,” but later said in a phone interview that the US was responding strongly after the helicopter incident.
“And I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is,” Trump told ABC News.
The fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran had already come under strain over the weekend when Iran and Israel briefly resumed hostilities before announcing another halt.
Iran has insisted that any agreement to end the war must include a truce in Lebanon, where Hezbollah became involved after launching rockets at Israel on March 2.
Israel responded with a major air campaign and ground invasion in Lebanon, which has killed more than 3,600 people. Despite a nominal ceasefire, exchanges of fire have continued.
Lebanese officials reported that 11 people were killed in airstrikes on the southern city of Tyre on Tuesday.
The Israeli military also issued evacuation warnings for the entire city.
An AFP correspondent reported residents fleeing Tyre, including from the Christian quarter, with heavy traffic moving north after the warning.
Another correspondent in Sidon, further north, saw displaced families arriving with belongings strapped to their vehicles.
The renewed conflict has also intensified concerns over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for global energy supplies that Iran has effectively disrupted since the start of the war.
Crude oil prices rose around one per cent amid growing uncertainty about any deal to reopen the waterway, after briefly falling earlier on optimism over potential negotiations.
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi urged foreign forces to withdraw from the region, warning they could be caught in the crossfire.
He said the Strait of Hormuz was not international waters but a shared zone between Iran and Oman, adding that foreign military presence nearby carried constant risks.
He warned that the best option for foreign forces was to leave the area entirely.
US Central Command confirmed that the downed Apache helicopter was the second crewed aircraft lost during the conflict, following an earlier F-15 loss in April.
It also stated that both crew members of the helicopter were rescued after it went down near the coast of Oman.