Iran has also struck three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and rejected Oman’s proposal on managing the waterway.
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Jordan’s air defenses have intercepted five missiles launched from Iran, according to the country’s armed forces, in what the United States military described as an “attempted surprise attack” on US forces by Iran.
In a statement early on Wednesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said US forces “remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness”.
Later in the day, US President Donald Trump threatened sweeping retaliatory military action. “We’ll be hitting them hard,” he told Fox News.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) earlier said its air force had targeted the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and a CENTOCOM centre in Jordan.
“As long as threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran continue and illegal and vicious actions by American forces against our interests continue, the resistance will continue,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by state media, while also confirming that it had targeted ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement announcing the interception of the missiles, the Jordanian military said it would “not tolerate any threat to the security” of the country.
Meanwhile, joint US-Saudi strikes in Iraq on Wednesday killed at least 20 members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and wounded 32 other members, according to the group.
Those strikes marked the first major US military action in the region since last Friday, when Trump suspended an intensive bombing campaign after 13 days, claiming “good talks” were under way with Iran.
Saudi Arabia and CENTCOM said their joint air strikes in Iraq targeted Iran-backed militias responsible for attacks on US troops and Saudi energy infrastructure.
Al Jazeera’s Jack Hewson, reporting from Baghdad, said the attack is “obviously a major incident for the PMF,” which is “legally part of Iraq’s state forces”.
The Iraqi presidency condemned the “unacceptable attack” on PMF facilities. It said it rejected any attack on Iraqi territory, while also opposing “the use of Iraqi land as a launching pad or arena for attacks against neighboring countries”.
Serdar said the latest attacks have put the region back “on edge again after days of relative calm”.
Oil markets fluctuated after the US military confirmed Iran’s attack on Wednesday, with US oil futures – which had previously been dropping amid Washington suspension of strikes on Iran – jumping more than 4 percent to more than $82 a barrel. Brent crude futures went to more than $88 a barrel.
The latest escalation since the US and Israel began attacking Iran in late February came hours after Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House.
“This is Iran sending a message to Trump that they need to be involved in all discussions,” Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said from Washington, DC.
“It was reported in Israel that Netanyahu was very keen to raise the question of Pickaxe Mountain. The Israelis said there has been building work going ahead there; they believe the Iranians are putting together another nuclear facility”, he said.
Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera that Tehran is “trying to retake the initiative and the momentum with these latest attacks”.
“Iran has expressed scepticism that the US engages in these pauses between attacks to prepare for another phase of violence, so Tehran likely thinks the US is doing just that with this latest pause”, he said.
Hormuz tensions continue
The Strait of Hormuz and its shipping traffic have been major talking points for Trump, who has decried Iran’s blocking of some vessels.
Iran asserts that it is within its rights to control shipping through the strait.
On Wednesday, the IRGC said it “struck and stopped” three oil tankers in Hormuz, according to Tasnim news agency.
It said the tankers “continued to move along an unsafe and illegal route, ignoring our warnings”,
Oman has presented Iran with a proposal to jointly manage traffic in the strait, but Iran has rejected it.
Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state television that Tehran rejected splitting transit routes equally.
Instead, he said, Tehran proposed managing shipping on its side of the strait, while Muscat would manage part but not all of the opposite lane.
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