Iran launched attacks on U.S. military positions in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates on Monday, marking the most significant direct escalation between Tehran and Washington in a month, after U.S. forces struck Iranian launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Jordan’s military said its air defenses intercepted eight missiles that entered the kingdom’s airspace early Monday, shortly after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it had targeted U.S. military installations in Jordan.

“Air defense systems intercepted eight missiles that breached the Kingdom’s airspace at dawn today, Monday,” the Jordanian army said in a statement.

Fox News reporter Trey Yingst, citing a U.S. source, was among the first to report that Iranian missiles were targeting American forces in Jordan. He said there had been no significant impact and that almost all incoming missiles had been intercepted.

The Iranian attack followed a U.S. strike on two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, according to a U.S. official cited by Axios. The launchers were allegedly being prepared by IRGC forces to fire rockets carrying sea mines toward the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. Central Command said late Sunday that its forces had taken “limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz,” rejecting the characterization of the operation as an act of aggression.

A U.S. official told Al Arabiya that American forces were closely monitoring the area and remained ready to protect the free flow of commercial shipping through the strategic waterway.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said the U.S. strike killed and wounded several Iranian fighters and civilians, without providing a casualty figure. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing unofficial reports, said at least two people were killed and two others wounded.

Iranian news agency Fars reported that an explosion was heard near Larak Island but said its cause was unknown. Reuters separately reported the explosion, but could not independently establish what caused it.

Iran expands retaliation

The IRGC said Iranian forces targeted the Malik Hussein and Al-Azraq U.S. bases in Jordan in response to the American strike.

“Aggression and crime will not solve the enemy’s desperation to weaken the Islamic Republic’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, and every shot will be met with a more crushing response,” the Guard said.

Iran later said it had also attacked the U.S.-linked Al-Minhad airbase in the UAE with “dozens of drones.”

The IRGC also claimed to have shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz early Monday, saying the aircraft fell into the water. The claim could not immediately be independently verified.

The exchange represents a new escalation in a conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran responded with missile and drone strikes against Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting U.S. military forces.

The war has now passed the six-month mark, with fighting having largely reached a stalemate in recent weeks while Washington has threatened increasingly costly sanctions against countries supporting Iran.

Hormuz at the center of the conflict

The latest strikes have placed the Strait of Hormuz at the center of the confrontation. The narrow waterway is one of the world’s most important energy corridors, normally carrying a major share of global oil shipments.

Washington has repeatedly warned Tehran against laying new mines in international waters. Trump said last week that all mines in the international waters of the strait had either been removed or detonated and warned Iran that any vessel or boat laying new mines would be destroyed.

Iran, meanwhile, has repeatedly asserted its right to control shipping through the waterway.

The confrontation followed earlier signs of a possible diplomatic opening. Iran and Oman discussed a “phased” framework on Tuesday that could provide a “practical and workable basis” for restoring navigation through the strait, according to a joint statement.

But IRGC-affiliated media reported early Monday that a tanker had caught fire in the waterway after striking two sea mines, warning that other vessels violating what it described as Iran’s security rules for navigation could face a similar fate.

The United States and Iran had reached a memorandum of understanding on June 17 calling for a 60-day halt to hostilities and the resumption of negotiations. Free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz was a key U.S. condition under the agreement.

The arrangement collapsed just 21 days later after CENTCOM said Iranian forces had attacked a Cyprus-flagged vessel in the strait. Despite the MoU, navigation through the waterway remains severely disrupted, threatening a major artery for global energy supplies.

With Washington now striking Iranian forces attempting to deploy mines and Tehran responding against U.S. bases across the region, the latest exchange risks opening a broader front in a war already stretching across much of the Middle East.