The U.S. military launched airstrikes Sunday targeting Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for an attack that killed American troops in Jordan, further widening the crossfire between the nations. The strikes are part of a weeklong campaign that has seen Iran strike U.S.-allied countries across the Middle East.
The U.S. Central Command stated it hit "Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities and missile and drone storage sites," specifically targeting the Guard, a key power base in Iran's theocracy that controls its ballistic missile arsenal. Footage released by the U.S. military appeared to show strikes carried out by fighter jets and by Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from sea, with one target site appearing to be in a mountainous region where the Guard often has missile bases.
An Iranian attack on a base in Jordan killed two American service members, left one missing, and four requiring hospitalization, according to the U.S. military. Since the conflict began, 16 U.S. service members have been killed and over 430 wounded.
Iranian authorities said Saturday that at least 50 people have been killed and more than 500 wounded in the latest U.S. strikes. The conflict is occurring as an interim deal seeking to end the Iran war has collapsed. Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned of "unforgettable lessons" if the U.S. continues its attacks, and an Iranian negotiator stated Tehran was suspending its commitments to a recently signed interim deal.
Nearly every Gulf Arab state has been targeted by Iran for retaliatory strikes, with a missile alert sounding Saturday in Saudi Arabia. The semiofficial Iranian news agency Fars issued a threat Saturday to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), warning that airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as ports in Fujairah and Jebel Ali, must be immediately evacuated if strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure continued. The UAE's Foreign Ministry responded by calling for "utmost restraint" to avoid "dangerous repercussions" and prevent the region from being pulled into new levels of violence and instability.
The U.S. has also reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt crude oil shipments, with the military reporting on Saturday that it had redirected five ships and disabled one since the blockade began. The nations are vying for control of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded passes in peacetime.