Iran Says It Destroyed 3 F-35s in Attack on US Base After American Strike

U.S. resumes strikes on Iran after six days

Signs emerge of the conflict spreading across the Middle East

Jordan says it intercepted five Iranian missiles

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, launched what it described as a retaliatory attack on the U.S. Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan after Washington resumed airstrikes on Iran following a six-day pause.

Iran’s state-run IRIB broadcaster and other local media cited an IRGC statement on July 30 saying the group fired multiple ballistic missiles at parking and maintenance hangars for U.S. F-35 fighter jets at Al-Azraq earlier that morning. The IRGC said the attack completely destroyed three F-35s and severely damaged three others.

The strike was presented as retaliation after the U.S. resumed airstrikes on Iran on July 29. U.S. Central Command said on X the previous day that the operation against Iran began at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Central Command said it struck dozens of IRGC targets in Iran, including military command-and-control centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime force assets.

Before the large-scale airstrikes, President Donald Trump used blunt language in remarks to reporters at the White House. “We will hit them very hard. Now it is our turn to hit them, and Iran knows that,” he said. In an interview with Fox News, Trump also said, “We’re going to beat them up.”

After the U.S. attack, the IRGC said the attackers would be punished on July 30 and that it would retaliate against U.S. facilities.

The U.S. military has not commented on the IRGC’s account of the attack.

Agence France-Presse reported that Jordan’s military said it intercepted five Iranian missiles headed toward its territory using air defense systems and that there were no casualties.

Kim Hee-sun, Hankyung.com reporter gimme_sun@hankyung.com