Iran Strikes US Fifth Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain and Al-Azraq Base in Jordan in Major Retaliation

Iran’s Armed Forces carried out sweeping retaliatory operations against American military installations across the region on Wednesday, following US strikes on multiple locations in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) stated that the attacks on Jask, Sirik, and Qeshm had been launched by the United States under what it called the “false pretext” of an American helicopter crash. The IRGC confirmed that the US strikes had damaged a telecommunications tower in Sirik and demolished two water reservoirs in the Bemani district.

In response, the IRGC Navy launched a drone strike against the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. The force subsequently announced a missile strike against Washington’s al-Azraq air base in Jordan. A separate IRGC statement said four major targets at al-Azraq were struck and destroyed, including F-35 warplane shelters and the command-and-control center. An informed military source confirmed that Iran deployed long-range solid-fuel Kheibar Shekan missiles to target the aircraft shelters. In total, the IRGC reported that 21 targets at American air and naval bases across the region had been hit during the retaliatory operation.

The Iranian Army’s Public Relations Office separately confirmed that, as part of operations against the “hostile acts and harassment of the terrorist American army” against residents of southern Iran, the Army conducted multiple waves of drone strikes against US bases and radar systems belonging to the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

The IRGC described the Islamic Republic’s military response as ongoing, noting reports of further blasts in Jask following the initial American strikes. It cautioned that if the United States continued its actions, “heavier responses are on the way.” Shortly after, local sources reported additional strikes against American positions in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the joint command body coordinating IRGC and Army operations, characterized the overall counterstrikes as a “powerful [retaliatory] assault.” The headquarters further warned that any renewed US aggression against the Islamic Republic would trigger “heavier and more extensive strikes” against a pre-designated list of targets throughout the region.

Iranian officials and military commanders have consistently denied any involvement in the helicopter crash that Washington cited as justification for its strikes on Hormozgan, firmly warning that no act of aggression against Iran would go without a decisive answer.