US bases in Jordan, Qatar, Oman hit, says IRGC

Tehran, July 12 (IANS) Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted US bases in Jordan, Qatar, and Oman on Sunday in retaliation for US attacks against southern Iranian provinces earlier in the day.

In statements published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the US Army had carried out airstrikes against several coastal military bases and communications towers along Iran’s southern coasts.

In the first phase of its retaliatory operations, the IRGC said its forces hit “important” US infrastructure and facilities at the Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan, destroying the base’s command and control centre and the hangar for MQ-9 Reaper drones, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the second phase of its strikes, the IRGC targeted and stopped a “violating” vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, and hit the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, devastating its command as well as fighter aircraft overhaul and maintenance centres.

In the third phase, it noted, the logistical support centres and refuelling platforms of US aircraft carriers in the Omani port city of Duqm were targeted and demolished in a “heavy and surprise” attack.

The Iranian Army also targeted drone attacks early Sunday on what it described as “terrorist” US Army bases and centres in Kuwait and Bahrain in response to the US “aggressions” earlier in the day.

It added that in Kuwait, a Patriot air defence system, an ammunition depot, and a radar site belonging to the US Army were hit by Iranian kamikaze drones, while in Bahrain, the US Army’s communications system and a radar site were targeted.

The IRGC warned of more severe responses if the United States repeats its attacks against Iran.

The IRGC’s Navy stressed that given the insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz caused by “foreigners’ illegal interference,” the strait will remain closed until further notice, and that until the United States stops its interventions in the region, no vessel will be allowed passage.

–IANS

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