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Iran apparently decided that repeatedly getting punched in the face by the United States was not quite enough, so Tehran has escalated its attacks on American forces and shipping in the Middle East.
Iran fired ballistic missiles toward a base used by U.S. forces in Jordan and claimed to have attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The good news for the Iranian regime is that it got to make the claim. The bad news is that reality remains stubbornly inconvenient. That is, the claim is balderdash.
A U.S. official told Fox News that the Iranian missile attack in Jordan was “ineffective” and that all American personnel in the country were accounted for.
“Iran’s response was ineffective in face of integrated air and missile defenses. Iran fired missiles toward Jordan. American forces have 100% accountability at all locations in Jordan,” the official told the outlet.
Jordan’s military said its air defenses intercepted 18 of the 20 ballistic missiles launched toward its territory. The other two apparently found some empty real estate to fall on, and no casualties were reported.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had targeted a base used by U.S. forces near Al Azraq and, naturally, claimed to have caused heavy damage. That assessment appears to have been written by the same committee responsible for Iran’s other great military success stories.
Meanwhile, Tehran claimed it had attacked 10 ships, including two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers, attempting to cross what it called a “prohibited and unsafe” area of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Pentagon, however, had a slightly different version of events.
U.S. Central Command rejected the IRGC's claim that Iranian forces had struck two U.S. Navy destroyers.
“This is completely FALSE,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
“No U.S. Navy warship has been struck; all IRGC attempted attacks failed,” CENTCOM said, and I believe them.
That is apparently what happens when your enemy's propaganda department runs into the inconvenient concept of radar.
CENTCOM also said American forces have destroyed 10 Iranian tankers over the past week, describing the vessels as part of a multibillion-dollar “shadow network” used to fund the IRGC and crippling their economy.
“Iran cannot defend them,” a CENTCOM spokesperson said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made the consequences of Iran's attacks remarkably clear. Apparently Washington has decided that the best way to respond to Tehran's attempts to destroy American warships is to destroy the financial machinery helping Tehran fund those attacks.
“Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia.
It's difficult to imagine a clearer message.
Iran shoots at American ships. Iran loses oil tankers.
Iran shoots again. Iran loses more oil tankers, and so on.
At some point, one would hope someone in Tehran will ask whether this is actually a sustainable business model.
Unfortunately, the insanity doesn't stop there.
Iran-backed Houthis claimed Wednesday that Saudi-backed forces launched 32 airstrikes across four provinces in Yemen overnight as the fighting between the two sides intensified.
Houthi spokesterrorist Nasruddin Amer said the strikes targeted areas in Taiz, Hodeida, Jawf and Marib. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the strikes, although a source in Pakistan told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had carried out retaliatory strikes in Yemen.
The reported retaliation came after the Houthis attacked four Saudi cities Tuesday, setting fire to oil facilities in an assault that produced massive flames visible from space. Saudi authorities said 73 people were wounded.
So, to recap: Iran is firing ballistic missiles at U.S. forces, Iranian forces are threatening shipping through one of the world's most important waterways, the Houthis are attacking Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia is striking Yemen, and everyone appears to be discovering new and creative ways to make the Middle East an even worse place to be.
The Saudi-backed government in southern Yemen has also launched a multi-pronged offensive against Houthi-controlled territory, while the Houthis have threatened Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.
The escalating violence has shattered a four-year truce in Yemen’s civil war and introduced even more uncertainty into global energy markets already dealing with disruptions across the Middle East.
And then there is the little matter of Iran's increasingly unsuccessful attempts to demonstrate that it can actually hurt the United States militarily.
Iran has repeatedly attempted to target U.S. warships with ballistic missiles in recent days. American forces have responded by striking Iranian oil tankers.
Iran apparently believes it can win this contest through sheer enthusiasm.
The United States appears to have brought a calculator.
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