Iran Launches First-Ever Preemptive Strike on US Base Amid Trump-Netanyahu Meeting

TEHRAN – Iran launched a surprise attack on an American military base in Jordan on Wednesday (29/7/2026), coinciding with a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. According to an Al Jazeera report, the strike was pre-emptive rather than a retaliatory attack by Iran.

If the Al Jazeera report is accurate, this would be a first for Iran, as Tehran has previously only ever launched retaliatory attacks after the US conducted military operations. On 24 July, Donald Trump halted the US attacks on Iran that had continued non-stop for two weeks.

In an official statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) quoted by IRIB, its air force targeted the US air base and the US Central Command (CENTCOM) in Jordan in the early hours of Wednesday “with several ballistic missiles”.

“As long as threats to the Islamic Republic of Iran continue, and as long as the illegal and malicious actions by American forces against our interests persist, the resistance will also continue,” the IRGC said in its official statement.

In a statement on X, CENTCOM confirmed that the IRGC had fired several ballistic missiles in a “surprise attack attempt against US bases in the Middle East”.

CENTCOM claimed that all the missiles were successfully intercepted and that “US forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness”. According to the Jordan News Agency, five missile interceptions took place in Jordanian skies.