Tehran: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday claimed it had carried out a combined missile and drone attack on US air bases in Jordan, in retaliation for what it described as US-Israeli aerial strikes on Iran’s Larak Island the previous night.
According to Iran’s Fars news agency, citing an IRGC statement, the attacks targeted technical and maintenance facilities, along with areas where enemy fighter jets were stationed, at the King Hussein and Al-Azraq bases in Jordan. The IRGC claimed the strikes caused heavy damage.
“Aggression and crimes will not solve the enemy’s desperation in attempting to weaken the Islamic Republic’s control over the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said, adding that every attack would draw “more devastating responses”.
The claimed Iranian operation came after US forces struck two IRGC rocket launchers on Larak Island, near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, on Sunday.
US Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins said the strikes targeted Iranian launchers that were allegedly being prepared to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. The operation marked the first publicly known US strike on Iran since late July.
“Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz,” Hawkins said, adding that the US military was closely monitoring the region and remained prepared to safeguard the free flow of commercial shipping through the waterway.
Larak Island, located in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, lies off the coast of Bandar Abbas, east of Qeshm Island and south of Hormuz Island.
The IRGC said several military personnel and civilians were killed or injured in the alleged US-Israeli attack on the island. In a statement carried by its official outlet, Sepah News, the force said the attack would be met with “punishment for the aggressor”.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing unofficial reports, said at least two people were killed and two others injured in what it described as a US drone strike on Larak Island.
(Inputs from IANS)