Iran claims strikes on US-linked targets in six Middle East countries
The IRGC said it fired missiles and drones after overnight US attacks in Iran that Al Jazeera reported killed at least eight people.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
Iranian forces said they fired missiles and drones at US targets in several Middle Eastern countries, Al Jazeera reported on July 17. The claims, if borne out, would mark the sharpest escalation reported since a memorandum of understanding was signed on June 17.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed attacks in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan and Syria, according to Al Jazeera. The reported targets were described as US-linked, but Al Jazeera did not provide details on specific sites, damage or casualties from the Iranian strikes.
Al Jazeera reported that the Iranian action followed overnight US attacks inside Iran. Those attacks killed at least eight people, according to the broadcaster.
The IRGC framed the launches as a response to the US attacks, Al Jazeera reported. The claim places several Gulf states, along with Jordan and Syria, at the center of a widening confrontation between Iran and the United States.
Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman all sit in the Gulf region, where US military activity and basing arrangements have long made regional governments sensitive to flare-ups involving Iran. Jordan and Syria add a broader regional dimension to the list of locations named by the IRGC.
Al Jazeera characterized the claimed strikes as the largest escalation since the June 17 memorandum of understanding. The report did not specify the terms of that agreement or identify the parties to it.
No further operational details were included in Al Jazeera’s account. The report did not say how many missiles or drones were launched, whether air defenses intercepted any of them, or whether the United States or the governments of the named countries had confirmed the attacks.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.