Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it carried out attacks on a US base in Jordan and 21 other targets in the Gulf on Wednesday in retaliation for US strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported.
These clashes are among the fiercest exchanges of fire since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in April, Reuters reports.
The Iranian strikes, which included attacks in Kuwait and Bahrain, came after the US military said on its X-net that it had targeted Iranian air defenses, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the strait in response to what US President Donald Trump said was the shooting down of a US Apache helicopter on Tuesday.
"I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that's exactly what this is," Trump told ABC News on Tuesday.
The escalation of violence has deepened doubts about the prospects for a deal to end the war that began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Tehran has responded by firing on neighboring Gulf states hosting US bases and almost completely blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for oil and gas.
The latest US strikes lasted about four hours before US Central Command announced they had ended shortly before 21pm Eastern Time. A US official said nearly 20 Iranian targets were hit.
Iranian state media reported that the island of Qeshm and the port city of Sirik in the Strait of Hormuz were attacked.
The sounds of explosions were heard in nearby Bandar Abbas, and later in the area of Jask, near the entrance to the strait, Iranian media reported, citing local sources and residents.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted four locations at the US Al Azraq base in Jordan in response, using long-range missiles, Iranian media reported.
The Guard said that the targets included hangars for F-35 fighter jets and a command and control center, and warned that it was ready to launch a "devastating and decisive" response to any further US attack.
The Jordanian armed forces said on Wednesday that they had intercepted and shot down five missiles launched from Iran towards Al Azraq. The military added that debris from the interception operation fell on Jordanian territory, but that there were no injuries or material damage.
Kuwait's military said its air defense systems were effective against enemy air targets and urged the public to follow official safety instructions, after Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait with drones, Reuters reported.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards earlier said it had attacked the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain with drones and threatened "even harsher responses" if hostilities continued, media reported.
Bahrain's interior ministry said a siren had been sounded and urged citizens to evacuate. The Bahraini king's media adviser soon posted on Xs that air defenses had repelled the Iranian attacks.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial assessments showed that almost all of the missiles and drones launched by Iran were intercepted, and that there were no reports of any US service members being injured or damage to US facilities.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports from the battlefield.
Oil prices rose about one percent in early Asian trade on Wednesday after hostilities escalated.
"It's no big deal"
On Tuesday, a US Apache helicopter was shot down by an Iranian disposable attack drone, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The two American pilots involved in the helicopter incident were not injured, Trump said.
Iranian state media quoted a military source as saying that no offensive military air operations had been carried out in the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours.
A U.S. Navy surface drone found and rescued two crew members, the U.S. military said, after a U.S. Army attack helicopter crashed in waters off the coast of Oman during a patrol around 3 a.m. Tuesday.
The US military's Central Command did not give a reason for the crash. It said the two crew members were rescued after two hours and were in stable condition — a more cautious assessment than Trump's description.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi did not directly address the helicopter incident, but said in a post on X that foreign forces in the region risk being involved in accidents or crossfire.
"To reduce the risk, the best solution is for them to leave," he wrote.
Trump told The Wall Street Journal during a phone call on Tuesday that the helicopter incident was "not a big deal" and stressed that "the pilot is fine."
However, the event could further strain efforts to broker a peace deal that would end the wider Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has repeatedly said that Iran and the United States are close to a deal, although there have been few signs of progress since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April.
Fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has continued, and Tehran has maintained restrictions on most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Washington has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Tuesday that shipping traffic through Hormuz was growing "very significantly", but added that it would take many months for energy flows to return to normal once the war ends.
Trump has said that any peace deal must ensure that Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies having such ambitions.
Iran's demands include the lifting of international sanctions, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its control over the strait.
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