Tehran has again pounded American military facilities in Jordan, where injuries were reported in a previous attack
Several US service members were injured when Iranian attacks struck military facilities in Jordan earlier this week, CBS News reported on Friday, just as Tehran launched another wave of retaliatory strikes.
Attacks on at least two Jordanian bases used by US forces resulted in “several American service members being injured,” multiple US officials told the broadcaster on condition of anonymity. No American or Jordanian fatalities were reported, while the number of injured troops and the severity of their wounds remain unclear.
The US Department of War has yet to publicly confirm the reported injuries or respond to the CBS account. It is also unclear exactly when the strikes occurred or which bases were hit. US warplanes routinely operate from Jordanian military installations, but Washington does not publicly disclose all the facilities used by its forces.
Iran has been pounding American military facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Iraq and Syria with missiles and drones over the past week in retaliation for renewed US attacks on Iranian territory.
Footage from another angle shows two ballistic missiles impacting Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. The second impact caused a much larger explosion, suggesting it may have hit an important target. https://t.co/Twk7SQthzqpic.twitter.com/jtJwampn6g
On Friday evening, US Central Command launched strikes against Iran for a seventh consecutive night, triggering another wave of Iranian retaliation.
As seen from two different angles; 2 Iranian ballistic missiles bypass 6 Patriot air defense missiles and reach their target at the Muwaffaq airbase in Jordan. pic.twitter.com/rIkvvWgJv3
The Iranian Army announced on Saturday morning that the 14th phase of Operation Lightning had targeted fuel tanks at Jordan’s Al-Azraq Air Base, an ammunition depot at Kuwait’s Al-Udeiri camp, and headquarters buildings, ammunition storage facilities and connecting bridges at Ali Al-Salem Air Base.
The IRGC separately claimed that Iranian ballistic missiles had struck American fighter jets stationed at Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. Footage circulated by open-source intelligence accounts appears to show several MIM-104 Patriot interceptors being launched as missiles approached the base, followed by at least two apparent impacts. Neither Washington nor Amman has confirmed any damage or casualties from the latest attacks.
Tehran has repeatedly claimed that its retaliatory attacks inflicted casualties among US personnel. On Friday, the IRGC said it had struck American fighter jets and aerial-refueling aircraft in Jordan, as well as US forces and a HIMARS launcher in Kuwait, causing “significant casualties and damage.” The force also claimed that “numerous” American special forces personnel had been killed in Kuwait.
None of those claims were confirmed by the Pentagon. CENTCOM separately denied an Iranian claim that US troops had been killed in an attack on the Al-Tanf base in Syria, stating on Friday that no American personnel in the region had “recently been killed or captured.”
Earlier this week, the IRGC directly appealed to the “noble people” of both Jordan and Kuwait to oppose the American military’s use of their countries as launchpads for attacks against Iran. It described Jordan as sacred land that had no place for foreign occupiers and urged Jordanians to “seize every opportunity to destroy American institutions and expel the occupying US army.”
