Iran targets US bases in Jordan and the Gulf after Trump orders strikes near Hormuz

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out missile and drone attacks on US military bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz.The clashes mark one of the biggest exchanges in hostilities since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in April and came after US President Donald Trump said Iran had downed a US Apache helicopter near the strait on Tuesday.“I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is,” Trump told ABC News on Tuesday.The escalation in violence deepens doubts about the prospects for a deal to end the war that started on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes against Iran.Tehran responded by firing on Gulf neighbors that host US bases and all but choked off the strait, a vital conduit for oil and gas.The latest US strikes targeted Iranian air defense, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites, according to the US military.They lasted around four hours before the US Central Command posted just before 9 p.m.ET that they had ended.

A US official said almost 20 Iranian targets had been struck.The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Qeshm island and the port city of Sirik in the Strait of Hormuz came under attack, while explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas and later near Jask at the entrance to the strait, Iranian media reported, citing local sources and residents.The IRGC said it had attacked US military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan with drones, and missiles in response to the new “US aggression.”Four sites were targeted at the US al-Azraq base in Jordan using long-range missiles, including F-35 fighter jet hangars and a command-and-control center, and the IRGC warned it was ready to deliver a “crushing and decisive” response to any further US attack.Jordan’s military said on Wednesday it had intercep...