Military strikes spread across Jordan and Iraq as Iran and US exchange fire
Iran fired ballistic missiles at US military installations in Jordan on Wednesday while Saudi Arabia and American forces launched coordinated strikes against Iranian-backed groups across seven Iraqi provinces, the two operations unfolding within hours of each other in a sharp escalation that has left operational details still unconfirmed.
US Central Command confirmed it intercepted what it described as a “surprise attack” by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which targeted American military positions in Jordan. Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence announced its armed forces, working in coordination with CENTCOM, had struck Iran-aligned groups operating in Iraq. Neither CENTCOM nor the IRGC disclosed the specific sites or assets hit in Jordan.
The US-Saudi rationale for the Iraq operations centered on drone attacks against Saudi petroleum facilities. Both nations claimed Iran-backed groups in Iraq, acting under IRGC direction, had conducted 30 drone strikes over a 72-hour period. Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella organization of mostly Shia armed groups with varying degrees of Iranian alignment, reported that the strikes killed at least 20 of its fighters and wounded 32 across Baghdad, Wasit, Nineveh, Basra, Kirkuk, Karbala and Diyala. The PMF cautioned those figures were preliminary, pending field assessments.
Jordan hosts approximately 4,000 US military personnel, according to a 2026 Congressional Research Service report. American forces maintain positions at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in northeastern Jordan, King Faisal Air Base, and Tower 22, a remote logistics outpost near the Syria-Iraq border. Iran’s attack followed its established pattern of targeting US military infrastructure in Gulf countries, a practice it has maintained since February 28, when the broader US-Israel conflict with Iran began.
The IRGC justified its strikes as retaliation for “aggressive actions” by US forces. Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow for Middle East security at the Royal United Services Institute, noted that Iran appears to believe deterrence requires proactive military action. “Reports that US interceptor stockpiles have been running low may also have shaped calculations in the IRGC,” Ozcelik told Al Jazeera. “More broadly, there is a strong sense within the Iranian leadership that it is engaged in an existential struggle and that putting pressure on the Trump administration remains an important objective.”
An unnamed Iranian defence official warned through state broadcaster IRIB that attributing such attacks to Iran constituted a “major miscalculation.” The Islamic Resistance in Iraq denied involvement in the Saudi strikes, characterizing the claims as “fabrications” and threatening that any “foolish Saudi action” would provoke a “harsh response.”
Meanwhile, the conflict has extended well beyond Iraq and Jordan. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have announced a Red Sea blockade and targeted Saudi-flagged vessels. Ukraine reported on Saturday that it had struck vessels carrying Iranian-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea. These developments illustrate how the tensions increasingly overlap with other regional and international conflicts.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi convened an emergency meeting of the Ministerial Council for National Security on Wednesday following the US-Saudi strikes. He had previously ordered Iraqi security agencies to investigate the drone attacks and was expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
Multiple parties are attempting diplomatic intervention. Pakistan’s UN ambassador, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, urged all sides to honor a memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the US last month, which was intended to clear the way for 60 days of negotiations but has already been disrupted by military engagements. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud spoke by phone with counterparts in Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain on Wednesday, with the ministers stressing de-escalation and safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she had discussed the Gulf situation and Iran’s support for Russia during a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. “In the Gulf, the reprieve from fighting can buy mediators time to find a way back to diplomacy and prevent a return to full-scale war,” Kallas posted on X.
Ozcelik assessed that the most probable scenario involves a continuation of tit-for-tat military strikes while diplomatic efforts proceed in parallel through Gulf state engagement. “Both sides will eventually need a negotiated return to the now faltering MOU that they can present domestically as a defensible outcome,” she said. The critical risk, she warned, lies in the conflict settling into a sustained period of regular military exchanges that become normalized. The moments requiring closest monitoring include a direct attack that prompts a collective Gulf military response against Iran and potential Houthi escalation in the Bab al-Mandeb.