US, Iran return to war footing after major exchange of strikes — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): The United States and Iran found themselves back on a war footing on Wednesday after the most significant exchange of fire in weeks, with Washington threatening even more devastating strikes. The US military’s Central Command said it had completed a wave of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets on Tuesday, including air-defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites, Reuters reported. Iranian media reported attacks on multiple targets across the country on Tuesday, many of them near the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has threatened oil tankers that transit the narrow waterway without authorization. Iran, in turn, said it had struck US assets in Jordan and Iraq, according to official statements, while Iranian media reported that it had also attacked Bahrain. Although the IRGC said it had killed a large number of US forces in Jordan, two US officials told Reuters that, according to initial assessments, there had been no casualties. Jordan’s armed forces said its air-defense systems had dealt with 13 ballistic missiles that entered the kingdom’s airspace. Ten were intercepted, while three fell in remote areas. Bahrain said Iranian drones had been intercepted and destroyed. The IRGC also said its ground forces had carried out combined missile and drone attacks on US bases in Erbil, northern Iraq, killing several…