Tehran responds with tit-for-tat strikes to Washington's attack

Iran struck military targets of the United States in the Middle East on Monday in retaliation for the first US strikes on Iranian territory in a month. The exchange marked a major escalation as the protracted conflict entered its seventh month.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed it launched ballistic missiles at US positions in Jordan in response to Sunday's US assault on Larak Island near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, claiming the assault caused "heavy damage". Jordan's military stated it intercepted eight incoming missiles but did not confirm their source.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned the renewed US raids on Larak, which it said killed multiple troops and civilians, describing Iran's counterstrikes against Jordan-based installations as a "legitimate act of self-defense".

Footage shared online captured volleys of air defense interceptors firing above Jordan. Reports identified Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, east of Amman, as the intended target. A US source told Fox News that nearly all the incoming missiles had been intercepted.

The United Arab Emirates said on Monday morning that it had dealt with a drone over its territorial waters coming from Iran. "The UAE Air Force remains on a high state of readiness to address any potential threats," the Defense Ministry said on X, without elaborating.

In a separate release, the ministry refuted claims that the Al Minhad Air Base near Dubai had come under missile fire. It dismissed the reports as "baseless" and urged the public to rely only on verified government announcements.

Despite recent signs of a de-escalation, Washington said Sunday's strikes were intended to stop Iran from deploying additional sea mines across the strait, days after the US declared it had finished clearing ordnance from the waterway.

Iranian state television reported on Monday that a supertanker caught fire and lost propulsion after hitting two mines in the southern stretch of the strait. It did not identify the vessel or provide details about its crew.

Global oil prices spiked more than 2 percent on Monday. A barrel of North Sea Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed back above the symbolic $90 threshold to $90.31.

Prior to Sunday's operation, the last US strike against Iran took place on July 29, launched in retaliation for what Washington framed as an attempted surprise assault on its forces in the region. The US carried out 13 successive nights of strikes on Iranian targets earlier that month.

Economic pressure

Over recent weeks, the Donald Trump administration has leaned heavily on economic pressure rather than military force against Iran, which has disrupted the vital shipping lane that once carried one-fifth of the world's oil supplies.

Months of mediation led by Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt have failed to broker a lasting ceasefire.

While a ceasefire was agreed in April and a memorandum of understanding toward a final peace deal was signed in June, no agreement has been forthcoming and Washington has since declared the "toughest economic sanctions" against Tehran.

But the conflict is deeply unpopular with the US public, with midterm elections looming in November.

"Six months later, not a single objective has been achieved," US Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a Friday statement.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that senior US military generals warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that a drawn-out large-scale war with Iran is unsustainable.

Commanders warned ammunition stockpiles were critically low. The newspaper noted that while Hegseth may demand overwhelming firepower, the US cannot sustain a global fight with dwindling munition reserves.

Gulf News of the UAE said on Monday that US forces fired between 96 and 128 Patriot interceptor missiles over Jordan in a single night, saying that roughly 900 such missiles remain in the US inventory, based on open-source intelligence.

Iran's Mehr News Agency, citing the IRGC, said the IRGC had shot down a long-range US MQ-9 Reaper drone with missile fire early on Monday.

Jan Yumul in Hong Kong and agencies contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn