CAIRO (AP) 鈥� Jordan’s air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday, the country’s military said, hours after the U.S. military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces in the Middle East, .
In a statement, the Jordanian military said the missiles had been 鈥渋ntercepted and destroyed.鈥� Earlier, U.S. Central Command said they 鈥渞emain vigilant and at a high state of readiness,鈥� and that it worked with Saudi Arabia鈥檚 forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days.
In announcing the strikes in Iraq, the U.S. warned that further attacks on American troops or Saudi Arabia鈥檚 energy infrastructure risked additional action.
The United States and Iran had experienced a period of calm, during which neither announced attacks for about three days following weeks of escalation over the strategic , the Persian Gulf waterway and narrow chokepoint through which 20% of the world鈥檚 traded oil normally flows.
The fighting flared at the end of a month packed with multiple pressure points on U.S. President . In recent weeks, four U.S. troops died during the fighting, while the Pentagon asked an increasingly skeptical Congress for money to cover the conflict鈥檚 ballooning costs.
Iran launched its ballistic missile attack before American and Saudi forces carried out strikes in Iraq, according to a U.S. official, who stressed that the two attacks were not connected. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military operations.
鈥淯.S. and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq in a strong response to over 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours,鈥� U.S. Central Command said, using an acronym for Iran鈥檚 paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
It said the Revolutionary Guard 鈥渁nd its terrorist proxies must cease these attacks to avoid further U.S. military response.鈥�
The Saudi Defense Ministry acknowledged the strikes in a post on social media, warning that 鈥渢he Kingdom emphasizes that it does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression it faces.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.
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