Jordan’s armed forces shot down 18 of the 20 Iranian ballistic missiles that crossed into its airspace Tuesday night. Two got through. Jordan says nobody was hurt and has not said where those two came down. Nobody has.
The Revolutionary Guard started it, firing ballistic missiles at an American warship twice in two days, Central Command said. The crew dodged both and kept patrolling. No American ship was hit. Tehran says the missiles were its new Qassem Basir, built to beat American defences. They didn’t.
Tuesday afternoon, American forces destroyed five Iranian tankers — Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1, Riesco and Derya. Four in the Gulf of Oman, one four miles off Kharg Island, the terminal that ships nearly all of Iran’s crude. Central Command warned the crews off first, then wrecked the ships. Nobody was hurt — not one American, and by Tehran’s own account none of the crews.
Marco Rubio, in Colombia, set the price: “for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers.” A tanker for every missile.
Iran answered inside two hours. Just after 6 p.m. ET, Iranian state media said missiles were going up from six cities — Isfahan, Tabriz, Yazd, Khorramabad, Khomein and Shahrekord — at “hostile American targets.” At 6:57 p.m. ET the Guard named the target: Al Azraq, the base in Jordan that hosts American jets, and claimed it had hit the hangars where the F-35s, F-16s and F-15s are serviced. Israeli Army Radio counted at least 35 missiles from 12 cities, the heaviest barrage since Israel’s Operation Roaring Lion ended.
Around 8 p.m. ET, Jordan gave its own numbers: 20 in, 18 down, no casualties reported. The Pentagon has said nothing. Nobody has placed, dated or named the buildings in the video going round tonight that purports to show missiles striking Jordan. The last time the Guard claimed those hangars, on August 31, Jordan shot down eight and nobody was hurt. So “hit the hangars” is Tehran talking, not a fact. And nobody has accounted for the other two.
The Guard’s navy told tanker crews in Kuwait and Bahrain to get off their ships. Mohsen Rezaei said Iran will draw its own exclusion zone across the Gulf, starting where the American blockade starts. Iran’s armed forces declared every American base in the region a target. The Houthis hit four Saudi cities — 73 wounded, the Jazan refinery burning. Reuters called it the widest the war has spread in six months.
Oil closed above $94 in New York, the highest since June 8. Brent touched $99.22. The Pentagon’s own casualty list added 26 more Americans wounded since July — 403 in two months. No names. No places.
Donald Trump said nothing Tuesday night. This morning on Truth Social he promised oil prices “will drop precipitously” once America wins. Tonight Iran fired 20 missiles at an American base, and the price went up.
Rubio promised a tanker for every missile. Jordan counted 20. Count the tankers tomorrow.
