AMMAN: The Jordanian military said it intercepted eight missiles fired from Iran on Thursday, while the Islamic republic said it targeted a US base there amid a new exchange of strikes between Tehran and Washington.
“Jordanian air defence systems intercepted and shot down, today, Thursday, eight missiles that were launched from Iran towards Jordanian territory,” the military said in a statement.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck the US’s “command-and-control centre in West Asia and the enemy air base in Al Azraq, Jordan, with 10 ballistic missiles”.
It added that “if the terrorist US military repeats its aggression, the other US bases in the region will not be safe from our heavy fire”.
The missile fire came on a second consecutive day of tit-for-tat barrages between the US and Iran, including scores of US strikes on Iran, testing a fragile ceasefire as the foes battle over the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Jordan’s military said that their interceptions “resulted in the fall of a number of fragments, without any human casualties or material damage,” and added that it will “not allow any violation of Jordanian airspace by any party”.
Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammad al Momani had said earlier on Thursday that sirens were activated after their airspace was breached by “missiles launched from Iran, and they were dealt with and intercepted”.
This is the first time Jordan has announced the interception of Iranian projectiles since June 11, when the army reported downing 20 missiles after the Revolutionary Guards declared they had targeted an American command centre in Jordan in response to US strikes on Iran.
Amman insists that Jordan does not host foreign military bases, but limited forces from several countries are deployed at some Jordanian army bases under cooperation and training agreements.
At the beginning of April, the Jordanian army announced that 281 missiles and drones from Iran had targeted the kingdom since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, adding that 261 of them were intercepted.
Authorities say 30 people were wounded in the attacks, all of whom have since been discharged from hospitals. – AFP
