Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated on Thursday that it had launched ballistic missiles at the Al-Azraq airbase in eastern Jordan, destroying three US F-35 fighter jets and seriously damaging three others. According to the IRGC statement carried by state media, the strike also killed an unspecified number of US officers and technical personnel at the base, which is used by American forces. The United States military immediately denied the claims, saying that all Iranian missiles and drones had been intercepted or had failed to hit their target areas, and that no aircraft were damaged.

The IRGC said the operation was a retaliation for an earlier US bombardment on Iran’s Qeshm Island that reportedly killed a family of three and wounded two children. Iranian officials said American forces had used bunker-buster bombs on residential homes in the island’s Shah Tangu district. The Guards’ statement, which addressed the Jordanian people directly, called the attack part of a campaign to expel US forces from “Islamic lands” and thanked those in Jordan who had expressed opposition to the American presence. Jordan’s military said it had intercepted five Iranian missiles the previous day after a separate IRGC strike on the Muwaffaq Salti base.

The exchange marks a sharp escalation in direct US-Iran hostilities after a brief five-day lull. According to Iranian officials, American forces resumed strikes on Wednesday night, hitting targets across the southern provinces of Hormozgan, Khuzestan and Bushehr. The IRGC claimed it had monitored the deployment of additional US A-10 and F-15 aircraft to Jordan and used intelligence from its Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters to conduct the counter-strike. In Iraq, US and Saudi strikes on the Hashed al Shaabi militia killed 20, including five Iranian advisers, the militia’s commanders said.

The regional fallout has been swift. Qatar condemned the Iranian attacks on Jordan and Kuwait, calling them a violation of sovereignty, while Kuwait reported a fatality from a strike on its territory. Global energy prices swung amid fears of supply disruption. President Donald Trump, speaking after the earlier IRGC launches, said the US would respond “with much force.” The US Central Command separately announced a new wave of operations targeting Iranian military command centres, missile and drone installations, and maritime capabilities.

As of Thursday, no independent verification of the IRGC’s claims of destroyed F-35s had surfaced. The Guards asserted that their monitoring of US military movements across the region continues, signalling that further exchanges remain a distinct possibility.