The United States military struck dozens of targets belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps early Wednesday, in what U.S. Central Command described as a powerful response to an Iranian missile attack on American forces in Jordan a day earlier. The operation, which CENTCOM said it had “successfully completed” by 10 p.m. ET, lasted approximately two hours and marked the resumption of direct U.S. strikes on Iranian soil after a five night pause in the fighting.
CENTCOM said the strikes hit IRGC command centers, missile and drone production and storage facilities, coastal surveillance posts and maritime capabilities spread across multiple locations inside Iran. The Times of Israel reported that officials characterized the campaign as measured but forceful, intended to degrade the Guard’s ability to launch further attacks on American forces and allied shipping without triggering an uncontrolled spiral toward all out war.
The strikes came directly in response to an Iranian ballistic missile barrage aimed at U.S. forces stationed at a base in Jordan, an attack that Jordanian air defenses largely intercepted, destroying five of the incoming missiles before they could reach Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for that attack, which itself appeared to be retaliation for a joint U.S. Saudi operation against Iran aligned militia fighters in eastern Iraq that killed at least 20 Popular Mobilization Forces fighters and four Iranian advisers.
In the aftermath of the U.S. strikes, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard vowed to “punish the aggressor,” language that suggests Tehran does not intend to back down despite the scale of the American campaign against its military infrastructure. The Guard also warned that countries assisting Washington, a pointed reference to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, could face a “harsh response,” raising the prospect of further attacks on U.S. partners in the region rather than direct retaliation against American forces alone.
The strikes are the latest chapter in a war that began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran. President Trump has since told Congress he restarted the conflict after peace negotiations collapsed, and the Pentagon now estimates the war has cost 7.5 billion dollars and killed 18 American service members, with hundreds more wounded. Congressional unease has grown alongside the casualty count. On July 23 the House passed, for a second time, a war powers resolution urging Trump to end hostilities with Iran, a mostly symbolic rebuke given the measure is not legally binding, while a companion resolution failed narrowly in the Senate on a 47 to 49 vote.
Oil markets have responded to the widening campaign with sharp price increases, with crude pushing past 100 dollars a barrel as the fighting edges closer to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant share of the world’s seaborne oil trade passes. A Reuters and Ipsos poll conducted this month found that just 37 percent of Americans approve of the strikes on Iran, even as 79 percent expect the conflict to continue for the foreseeable future.
With Saudi Arabia now conducting joint operations against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Jordan directly targeted by Iranian missiles, the IRGC strikes represent an attempt by Washington to reassert deterrence at a moment when the war’s front lines are multiplying rather than narrowing.
Sources: Times of Israel, CNBC, CNN.
Author: Pulse Of Nations Wire Desk
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