IRGC Says It Struck US Bases in Jordan, Kuwait as Bombardment Continues
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Thursday it targeted US soldiers and communications systems in Jordan and Kuwait, as Iranian fire also hit Bahrain during a widening exchange with US forces.
Developing story — this page will be updated as information becomes available.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Thursday it targeted US soldiers and communications systems at US-used bases in Jordan and Kuwait, as Iranian missile and drone fire also hit Bahrain during an overlapping exchange with expanding US strikes on Iran. The Jerusalem Post reported the IRGC claim; Middle East Eye reported Iran struck a US base in Jordan as “American bombardment continues”; the Guardian’s Middle East live blog said US strikes expanded to northern Iran “as Tehran fires on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.”
What we know
The BBC reported that “explosions were heard across Iran overnight, shortly after neighbouring Gulf states began to report attacks,” describing a two-way exchange running through Thursday. Al Jazeera’s latest situation summary is headlined around the same simultaneous US strikes on Iran and Iranian fire on Kuwait and Jordan.
The IRGC’s own claim, carried by the Jerusalem Post, names US soldiers and communications systems as the intended targets in Jordan and Kuwait — a step up from Wednesday, when Iranian launches into Kuwait were mostly described by regional authorities as intercepts. Middle East Eye’s dispatch describes Thursday’s Jordan strike as occurring while US bombing of Iranian territory continues in parallel.
Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain all host US military personnel and infrastructure, including Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, and US forces at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and other positions in Jordan.
What we don’t know
Neither CENTCOM nor the Pentagon has publicly confirmed casualties or damage to US personnel or facilities from the Thursday Iranian salvo. The IRGC’s claim of striking US soldiers is not independently verified. Whether the Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan impacts represent successful strikes, partial hits, or intercepts is not yet resolved on the record. This is a developing story.
Context
Thursday’s exchange sits inside a widening cycle: US strikes have expanded into northern Iran and hit closer to Tehran for the first time in the current wave, and CENTCOM overnight disabled a sanctioned Iranian-linked tanker near Kharg Island. On the Iranian side, Thursday’s claimed strikes on US bases in Jordan and Kuwait extend a pattern the IRGC opened earlier this week when it said it had struck US forces in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan on Tuesday.
The pattern matters because each new Iranian claim of hitting US personnel — as opposed to infrastructure or empty ground — raises pressure on Washington to respond above its current tempo, and each US expansion of the target set inside Iran raises pressure on Tehran to demonstrate reach into US-hosted bases.
What to watch
- Whether CENTCOM or the Pentagon issues an on-record statement confirming or denying US casualties at the Jordan or Kuwait sites named by the IRGC.
- Whether Kuwait, Jordan or Bahrain’s governments make their own damage announcements or invoke bilateral defense arrangements.
- Whether Iran follows Thursday’s Jordan/Kuwait claim with a strike on a higher-value US position — Al Udeid in Qatar or the 5th Fleet in Bahrain — which would mark a further escalation of the exchange.
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