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<\/p>\nA direct exchange of fire between the US and Iran has taken place in the Middle East for the first time in more than a month.<\/p>\n
Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles on Monday morning after Iran attacked US bases in the kingdom in retaliation for American strikes overnight on an island in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
The UAE Ministry of Defence later said on Monday morning that it had intercepted an Iranian drone over its territorial waters.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s IRGC Navy also claimed that a supertanker had caught fire after striking two sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The claim could not immediately be independently verified.<\/p>\n
The Jordanian military said, in a statement carried by state media, that it had \u201cintercepted eight missiles that penetrated the kingdom\u2019s airspace\u201d before they posed a threat to civilians or property.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched ballistic missiles against US forces at Jordan\u2019s King Hussein and Al-Azraq airbases after US strikes on two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
US Central Command said it had taken \u201climited, precise action\u201d against IRGC mine-laying forces that posed an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz. The operation was aimed at protecting civilian mariners and commercial shipping.<\/p>\n
The IRGC had been preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines, the US military said. Iranian media reported explosions near Larak Island, while the IRGC said several fighters and civilians had been killed or wounded.<\/p>\n
The IRGC Navy said a supertanker later caught fire after striking two sea mines while attempting to cross what it called an \u201cillegal\u201d southern route in the strait.<\/p>\n
In a statement posted on Telegram, the IRGC Navy said the vessel suffered \u201cmassive fires\u201d and was \u201ccompletely stopped\u201d. The IRGC Navy did not identify the tanker or say what caused the fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fate of ships that violate the security regulations of the Strait of Hormuz will be no different,\u201d the IRGC said, declaring its transit rules \u201cmandatory\u201d.<\/p>\n
The UAE Ministry of Defence said it had intercepted a drone over its territorial waters and that its armed forces were \u201con alert and ready to deal with all threats\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a statement carried by Iran\u2019s state broadcaster, the IRGC reported \u201cthe martyrdom and injury of several of our fighters and compatriots\u201d without giving an exact toll. It said the attack would \u201cresult in punishment of the aggressor\u201d.<\/p>\n
The strikes mark the first direct exchange of fire between US and Iranian forces since late July, when Washington shifted from military action toward increasing economic pressure on Tehran.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump said last week that mines had been cleared from international shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz and warned Iran that any vessel attempting to lay new mines would be destroyed.<\/p>\n
The IRGC said its Aerospace Force responded by launching a combined missile and drone operation against two US airbases in Jordan.<\/p>\n
Shortly before 3am Dubai time on Monday, it said ballistic missiles were fired at technical and maintenance infrastructure and areas at King Hussein Air Base and Al-Azraq Air Base where US fighter aircraft were stationed.<\/p>\n
The IRGC said the strikes caused \u201cheavy damage\u201d but provided no evidence or detailed assessment.<\/p>\n
The US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to retaliate against Israel and Gulf states hosting US military bases. The conflict has now passed the six-month mark.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced by US and Israeli strikes on Iran and by Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Eighteen US service members have also been killed.<\/p>\n
The war has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical energy route that carried about a fifth of the world\u2019s oil supply before the conflict.<\/p>\n
Larak Island is located near Iran\u2019s key southern port of Bandar Abbas and close to the main shipping lanes at the mouth of the Gulf. The US strikes came days after Washington said it had cleared mines from international shipping routes in the strait.<\/p>\n
Centcom commander Adm. Brad Cooper said on Friday that US forces had used divers, special operations forces and aircraft to clear internationally recognised shipping lanes of Iranian sea mines, helping nearly 1,500 commercial vessels carrying almost 750 million barrels of crude oil to global markets transit the waterway.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mr Trump posted an AI-generated video on social media showing Iran\u2019s energy hub of Kharg Island being \u201cblown to smithereens\u201d but provided no further detail.<\/p>\n
There was no confirmation from the US military that Kharg Island had been struck, while Iran made no immediate public statement confirming that the island had come under attack. There was also no immediate response from Iranian media to Mr Trump\u2019s video.<\/p>\n
Kharg Island is Iran\u2019s main oil export hub and handled about 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports before the war. A confirmed attack there would represent a major escalation beyond the strikes on Larak Island and could severely disrupt Iran\u2019s energy trade.<\/p>\n
Oil prices rose above $90 a barrel on Monday morning in response to the latest flare-up, which came after the Trump administration stepped up economic pressure on Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A direct exchange of fire between the US and Iran has taken place in the Middle East for the first time in more than a month. Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles on Monday morning after Iran attacked US bases in the kingdom in retaliation for American strikes overnight on an island in the Strait […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385,"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions\/385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalfeed.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}