TEHRAN/WASHINGTON/NEW YORK/SEOUL — Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced early Wednesday that its aerospace forces have attacked a US air base in Jordan in retaliation for US "aggressive" attacks against Iranian oil tankers.

The IRGC said in a statement that it struck a hangar for the maintenance, repair, preparation and deployment of the US Army's F-35, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets and a shelter for the US fighter aircraft at the Al-Azraq Air Base, "inflicting heavy damage on the enemy."

Jordan's military said on Wednesday that its air defence systems have destroyed 18 of 20 Iranian ballistic missiles.

Two missiles fell in unpopulated areas, causing no casualties, it said.

Report: US hits 2 Iranian oilers off S. coast

Two Iranian oil tankers were attacked by the US off the country's southern coast Tuesday night, while the IRGC ordered crews off tankers at Kuwaiti and Bahraini piers, Iranian media reported.

One of the tankers was targeted in a US missile attack four miles (about 6.5 km) off Iran's southern Kharg Island, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

It cited local sources as saying that the incident caused no casualties.

The second tanker was struck off Jask county, Hormozgan province, state-run IRIB TV reported, adding that the two tankers' crew members were being transported to Jask in a lifeboat.

Following the incidents, the IRGC Navy warned all crew members of oil tankers at piers in Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately evacuate their vessels.

"Given the terrorist US Army's malicious actions in targeting several oil tankers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we warn all crew members of the tankers at piers of Kuwait and Bahrain, which host these terrorists and are accomplices in their malicious acts, to immediately leave their vessels, whether at anchorages or ports, as they will be targeted," the navy said in a statement published on the IRGC's official news outlet Sepah News.

The US Central Command said on Tuesday that US forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers in retaliation for attacks by the IRGC on a US Navy warship over the past two days.

The US warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks with ballistic missiles and continued to patrol regional waters, the command said in a post on X.

"American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable," the command said in a statement, noting the strikes took place near Iran's Kharg Island.

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President: Iran to continue resistance

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that the country will continue its resistance with strength until the "aggressors" are brought to complete regret.

In a post on social media platform X, he also highlighted Iran's opposition to war.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been opposed to war and considered the preservation of the people's interests and ensuring the (West Asia) region's security to lie in refraining from warmongering," Pezeshkian said.

He added, "However, just as it has courageously risen to defend against aggression up to this day, Iran will continue this resistance with strength until the aggressors are brought to complete regret, and will remain the guardian of the rights of the great Iranian people."

IRGC says it captured US unmanned submarines

Meanwhile, the IRGC navy said Tuesday its forces captured one of the US Army's "most modern, smart" unmanned submarines at the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the day.

In a statement published on Sepah News, the IRGC navy said the unmanned underwater vehicle was captured in a complex intelligence and operational operation.

The submersible vehicle, identified as a Dive-LD, is equipped with the world's most modern subsurface vehicle technology, it said, noting its images will be released in the coming hours.

The IRGC also said in a separate statement on Tuesday that its air defense systems had shot down an MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz, according to Sepah News.

Following the IRGC's announcement, the US military said in a statement that one of its underwater drones "malfunctioned" over a day earlier during a survey of regional waters, without mentioning whether the device was seized by Iran. 

US sanctions 27 Iranian airlines with third-country firms targeted

Also on Tuesday, the US Department of the Treasury put 27 Iranian airlines on its Specially Designated Nationals List thus targeting all remaining Iranian airlines in a bid to step up pressure on Iran.

The department said in a press release that "Iran's commercial airlines have long supported the Iranian regime's destabilizing activities," with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps using ostensibly private airlines for the procurement and transport of weapons and the ferrying of personnel.

The US first sanctioned Iranian airline Mahan Air in October 2011, and targeted multiple companies seen as general sales agents of Mahan Air on July 30.

The sanctions also targeted "covert front companies, foreign intermediaries, and deceptive transshipment routes that Iran relies on to obtain US-origin aircraft and sensitive technology," according to the release.

In particular, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four companies from Türkiye, Malaysia and Kazakhstan on the grounds of acting as Mahan Air's cargo service providers and general sales agents.

OFAC also suspended authorizations that allowed for overflights, and for non-US airlines to fly US-origin or US-controlled commercial aircraft into Iran.

In addition, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network under the Treasury Department issued an alert asking financial institutions to report procurement networks supporting Iran's aviation industry.

According to the release, Mahan Air received at least three B-777 aircraft in summer 2026 that were diverted through the United Arab Emirates and Oman.  

S. Korea sends assessment team to Hormuz Strait 

In Seoul, South Korea's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it had dispatched an on-site assessment team to the Strait of Hormuz to gauge the local situation, including political and security conditions.

It stressed that the assessment was not conducted on the premise of an actual troop deployment.

The ministry also said that reports claiming the US had set a deadline in requesting the deployment of South Korean assets to the region were not true. No decisions have been made regarding a possible deployment, the ministry said.

Several South Korean media outlets reported earlier Friday that the military was moving to prepare for a possible deployment to the strategic waterway.

Under South Korean law, an overseas troop deployment requires a decision by the National Security Council, deliberation by the cabinet, and approval from the National Assembly.