Tensions Escalate: Iran Strikes US Base in Jordan Amid Ongoing Conflict

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they pummelled a US military base in Jordan, vowing retaliation for American strikes on Iranian oil tankers that dragged the foes deeper into war. Tehran's bombs came after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to Iran targeting an American warship, the second such attack in less than a week. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards also said on Wednesday that they attacked two US vessels, eight oil tankers and 10 "non-compliant vessels" trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. "Two US vessels, eight oil tankers, and 10 non-compliant vessels attempting to pass through the prohibited and unsafe zone of the Strait of Hormuz were targeted," the Guards said in a statement published by the official IRNA. The United States and Iran are locked in a stalemate six months into the war, with Iran maintaining a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for the world's oil and gas, and Washington pushing a campaign to choke Iran's ports and economy. The Islamic republic said on Wednesday it would target oil tankers off US-allied Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for the strikes on its tankers. Minutes later, Iran's Revolutionary Guards -- the most powerful arm of the Iranian military, said they had struck the US air base of Al-Azraq in Jordan with missiles, state media reported. The "punitive operation" damaged maintenance and repair facilities, deployment locations and shelters for fighter jets, according to IRNA. Jordan's army said it shot down 18 missiles from Iran targeting the kingdom. The strikes came after Tehran urged crews on oil tankers off Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels, warning they "will be targeted", the Guards said in a statement posted on IRNA.