Jordan's air defence systems shot down eight ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward Jordanian territory on Thursday, 9 July, a military source at the General Command of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army confirmed. Simultaneously, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it struck the US command centre in the Middle East and the al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan using 10 ballistic missiles, marking one of the most direct Iranian military actions against US-linked targets in the region in recent memory.

Jordan's Interception and Military Response

The anonymous military source confirmed that the interception operations caused missile debris to fall on Jordanian soil, but stressed that no casualties or property damage were reported. The source added that Jordan's armed forces are operating at the highest level of readiness to protect the kingdom's airspace and defend its sovereignty.

'The military will not allow any party to violate Jordan's airspace,' the source stated, signalling a firm posture regardless of the origin of any future incursions. This is a notable assertion, given that Jordan has previously faced domestic political pressure over its willingness to intercept projectiles originating from Iran — including during the April 2024 drone-and-missile barrage that it helped neutralise alongside US and Israeli air defences.

IRGC's Claims and Threat to US Bases

The IRGC said in a statement cited by Iranian state media that 'the enemy's command and control centre in the Middle East and the al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan were struck by 10 ballistic missiles.' The corps issued a stark warning, stating that if the United States 'repeats its aggression, other American bases in the region will not be safe from our heavy fire.'

The al-Azraq Air Base, located in northeastern Jordan, hosts US military personnel and has served as a logistical hub for American operations in the region. An attack on this facility, if confirmed at the scale claimed by the IRGC, would represent a significant escalation in direct Iran-US military confrontation.

Iran Condemns US Strikes, Calls Them 'War Crimes'

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday separately condemned what it described as the latest US strikes against several regions in Iran's southern coastal provinces and two bridges in the country's northeastern provinces. In a formal statement, the ministry labelled attacks on two bridges along rail routes — from Gorgan to Incheh Borun and from Mashhad to Tehran — as 'flagrant war crimes.'

Tehran argued that the US strikes within the past 48 hours were carried out under what it called the 'false pretext' of responding to earlier incidents involving ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz. The ministry characterised the strikes as a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter and a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries on ending the war.

MoU Under Strain

Iran also accused the United States of using the strikes to justify its 'continued non-compliance' with the MoU — a diplomatic instrument whose existence underscores how fragile the ceasefire framework between the two sides reportedly remains. The accusation points to a pattern where both parties claim the other is the aggressor, complicating any path toward de-escalation.

This comes amid an already volatile regional security environment, with US forces on heightened alert across multiple bases in Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf. With both sides trading strikes and issuing warnings, the risk of a broader miscalculation — rather than a deliberate war — is the scenario most analysts reportedly fear.