Iranian ballistic missiles damaged multiple American aircraft at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, CBS News reported, citing people with direct knowledge of the damage. An A-10 Thunderbolt II was left with a severely damaged wing, and roughly eight F-15E Strike Eagles sustained light damage. The F-15s have since returned to service.
American forces fired more than 30 Patriot interceptors during the attack, according to the report. The Jordanian Armed Forces said 18 of 20 Iranian missiles were intercepted and destroyed, with two falling in open areas. No casualties were reported, and US officials said no American personnel were killed. A spokesman for US Central Command did not respond to a request for comment.
The attack followed the American strike Tuesday that sank five Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched what it called devastating strikes on US forces at the base, also known as Al-Azraq, in Jordan's Zarqa governorate, and claimed it hit maintenance, preparation and deployment sites for F-35, F-16 and F-15 aircraft. The IRGC also said it attacked eight tankers and two warships in the same round.
A Trump administration official had described the barrage as ineffective against integrated air and missile defenses. The CBS reporting complicates that assessment. The interception rate was high and no one was killed, but Iran succeeded in damaging American aircraft on the ground, which it has claimed before without confirmation.
Muwaffaq Salti has become Iran's preferred target outside the Gulf. Tehran struck the base in March, when the IRGC said long-range missiles destroyed hangars and command centers and Jordan said all five missiles were shot down, and again in June, when Jordan reported intercepting 20 missiles with no casualties or material damage. Iran struck it once more on August 30, alongside the King Hussein base, in response to the American attack on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
The current escalation began with that Larak strike two weeks ago. Washington said Iran was preparing to use rocket launchers on the island to scatter sea mines in the strait. Iran responded against US assets in Gulf states and has since widened the target set to Jordan.
