Fresh US-Iran strikes mark latest escalation in tit-for-tat conflict UPDATED

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a strike using Kheibar Shekan ballistic missiles against Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan, according to Iranian media.

The IRGC claimed that the attack targeted facilities used to store US fighter aircraft, as well as a newly established US command and control centre in the Middle East.

The statement comes amid escalating military exchanges between the United States and Iran, with both sides reporting strikes on strategic military assets across the region.

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The United States and Iran exchanged military strikes as tensions between the two countries escalated, with both sides reporting attacks on strategic military targets.

According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), a series of airstrikes against targets in Iran has been completed. In a statement posted on X, CENTCOM said the operation targeted command centres, air defence facilities, missile and drone systems, as well as coastal reconnaissance sites, Caliber.Az reports.

https://t.co/8lYsAIspma

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 16, 2026

The command said US forces used precision-guided munitions to strike targets in several parts of the country, including the city of Bandar Abbas. CENTCOM also reported that during the first wave of strikes on July 15, coastal defence facilities and cruise missile positions on Greater Tunb Island were targeted.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stated that it had carried out combined missile and drone attacks against a C-RAM early-warning radar system at a US base in Kuwait, as well as against American facilities in Jordan.

In addition, Iranian sources reported several explosions near the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

The IRGC also claimed that an American MQ-9 drone had been shot down over Iran’s Hormozgan province.

By Jeyhun Aghazada