Inside Jordan's Al-Azraq Airbase: Strategic US Military Hub and Target for Iranian Missiles

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that they had launched missiles at a US base in Al-Azraq in Jordan, in response to US attacks on Iranian oil tankers. As the United States and Iran trade strikes on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz this week, Iran has also launched several ballistic missiles towards Jordan’s Al-Azraq airbase, which hosts US military assets and personnel, in what it has called retaliatory attacks.

The Jordanian Armed Forces said 18 of 20 missiles had been intercepted and destroyed overnight on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning, while two fell in open areas. No casualties have been reported.

Overnight, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had launched “devastating” missile strikes at US forces stationed at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, also known as Al-Azraq base, near Azraq in Jordan’s Zarqa governorate. Missiles struck the maintenance, preparation, and deployment sites of F-35, F-16, and F-15 fighter jets, as well as their shelters, inflicting heavy damage according to the IRGC statement reported by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

A Trump administration official in Washington, DC, stated that the ballistic missile barrage fired at US forces in Jordan inflicted no casualties, noting that integrated air and missile defenses rendered the response ineffective.

The escalation follows US attacks on rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak island in the Strait of Hormuz. Jordan hosts nearly 4,000 US soldiers, with personnel stationed at the Al-Azraq base, the King Faisal Air Base, and Tower 22. Tehran has claimed strikes on the Al-Azraq base multiple times between March and September.

The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located nearly 100km northeast of Amman in the Eastern Desert. Named after Lieutenant Muwaffaq Salti, Amman and Washington signed a defence cooperation agreement in 2021 granting US access to 12 military installations. Experts note the base provides crucial strategic depth and serves as a vital logistics hub for US operations in the region.