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Jordan's air defenses intercepted five ballistic missiles fired from Iran early on Wednesday, July 29, the Jordanian military said. The military said the missiles were intercepted and destroyed, according to a report from The Associated Press.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency carried a statement from the Revolutionary Guard saying its Aerospace Force fired the missiles at two targets in Jordan. Those were the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and the headquarters of US Central Command in the country.
US Central Command said the Revolutionary Guard launched multiple ballistic missiles in an "attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East," according to Al Jazeera. It said all the missiles were intercepted and that US forces remained at a high state of readiness.
The launches broke a short lull in a war that has run since late February. President Donald Trump called off a two-week US bombing campaign on July 24, and neither side announced attacks for roughly three days after that. The missiles flew while Trump was meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
Iran also pressed its campaign at sea on Wednesday. IRNA reported that the Revolutionary Guard's navy struck and stopped three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The report did not name the tankers or say what flags they sailed under, and there was no immediate independent confirmation of the claim.
About 20 percent of the world's traded oil normally moves through the strait. Energy markets responded within hours of the CENTCOM statement. US oil futures rose more than 4 percent to above $82 a barrel, and Brent crude futures passed $88.
The attack on Jordan came a day after US and Saudi aircraft struck weapons and logistics sites used by Iran-backed groups across eastern Iraq, which the Circuit reported on Wednesday. Central Command tied those strikes to more than 30 drone attempts on US and Saudi targets in the preceding 72 hours.
Four US service members have died during the fighting in recent weeks. Muwaffaq Salti, the air base named in the Revolutionary Guard statement, hosts US troops in eastern Jordan and has been struck before during this war.
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