AMMAN, Jordan, Sept. 10 — Iranian ballistic missiles struck the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base near Azraq in eastern Jordan on September 9, damaging maintenance facilities, deployment areas and aircraft hangars, after Washington announced it had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf earlier the same day.
Interceptions and Conflicting Claims Jordanian forces intercepted 18 of 20 incoming missiles, with the remaining two landing in uninhabited areas, according to Jordanian officials. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it launched the strikes in retaliation for the destruction of the tankers, and separately claimed its forces had hit two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz — a claim U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) swiftly dismissed as false.
The U.S. operation against the tankers followed what American officials described as additional attempted missile attacks on a U.S. Navy warship operating near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. The exchange marked one of the sharpest escalations since fighting between the United States and Iran began in late February.
A Recurring Target: Infrastructure and Radar Losses Muwaffaq Salti Air Base has been a recurring target of the seven-month conflict. Iranian forces struck the facility’s drone hangars on September 2 in an attack that destroyed reconnaissance aircraft and killed flight crew, and earlier hit Camp Titin, a U.S. naval position near the Gulf of Aqaba, on September 2. Satellite analysis has confirmed the destruction of an American AN/TPY-2 radar system, a key component of THAAD missile defense, at the base in March.
Casualties and Sovereign Strain No U.S. casualties were reported in this specific attack, per Jordanian and U.S. officials. Jordan, which hosts American forces, has described the strikes on its soil as a threat to regional stability and said its air defenses remain fully operational.