US strikes Iran targets after missiles hit Jordan, Kuwait
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- Jordan's air defenses shot down five Iranian missiles with no casualties, according to the state-run Petra news agency, hours after an Iranian strike hit a Chinese firm's building in northern Kuwait, killing one worker and severely damaging the structure.
- U.S. Central Command struck "dozens" of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps targets — including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance sites — in response to Iran's missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan; Trump vowed to hit Iran "very hard."
- Iran's official IRNA news agency reported three people were killed and two wounded in a strike on the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iranian attacks have effectively closed, choking a critical waterway for global energy supplies.
- Drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at Egypt's port of Damietta — a U.S.-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker — with Trump responding "It's a little more of the same" when asked if Iran was responsible; such a strike would mark a significant widening given Egypt, a close U.S. ally, had been spared direct action.
- Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met separately with Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday, as Saudi Arabia accused Iraqi militias of firing drones at its oil facilities and Houthi rebels claimed separate attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure.
- Planet Labs satellite imagery analyzed by the AP showed damage to Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil-processing facility, which is capable of processing approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.
- Mediators were working to restore a ceasefire after an interim agreement collapsed in recent weeks over renewed Strait of Hormuz fighting, with a regional official saying they are "still trying with both sides" to get negotiations back on track.
Why it matters: The conflict has now visibly touched Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen in a single news cycle — with damage confirmed at a 7-million-barrel-per-day Saudi facility and a critical waterway for global energy effectively closed. Continued escalation draws down U.S. munitions stockpiles needed to defend its own bases and allies while collapsing the diplomatic track mediators were trying to restore.
