‘Large number of US forces killed’ as Iran’s Armed Forces launch wholesale retaliation: IRGC

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced the launch of the operations in a statement on Tuesday.

“Decisive operations by the Iranian Armed Forces in response to the American terrorist enemy began minutes ago,” the Corps said. “US bases and interests across the region are now coming under attack by Iranian missiles and drones,” it added.

The operations follow multiple instance of unwarranted aggression against targets inside the Islamic Republic, especially the country’s southern areas.

Reprisal follows civilian casualties

The latest instance of the aggression featured a missile attack targeting the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan’s Sirik County, where shrapnel hit a residential structure in the city of Kouhestak as the building was hosting a wedding ceremony.

So far, as many as four people have been martyred, including a child, and 50 others wounded.

The Corps lamented that the attack had revived poignant memories of the brutality that was staged against civilian targets during the last round of American-Israeli aggression against Iran that took place from February 28 until April 7.

It cited enemy attacks against a school in the city of Minab in Hormozgan Province and a sports complex in the city of Lamerd in Fars, another southern Iranian province, during which hundreds of innocent civilians were martyred.

Earlier attacks had also hit Chabahar and Konarak Counties in Sistan and Baluchestan, another southern Iranian province, and the Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Iranian servicemen to stage a reprisal against US forces stationed in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

‘US aggression only complicates Hormuz’s closure’

The IRGC underlined that these attacks have only determined the Islamic Republic to reinforce the closure it has imposed on the Strait of Hormuz in response to previous American violations and “strengthened the resolve of our warriors to crush the foreign forces interfering in Hormuz.”

The ongoing reprisal, it added, “will make the aggressors regret their actions.”

According to the Corps, the first stage of the reprisal has seen Iran’s new-generation aerospace defense system shoot down the 50th advanced MQ-9 drone belonging to the American aggressor.

US personnel fatalities

Later, the IRGC’s Aerospace Force “carried out a heavy ballistic-missile strike against the US Marine barracks known as Camp Titiin in Jordan, located on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba,” the Corps said in a second statement.

“The attack killed a large number of US personnel and destroyed several key facilities and the enemy’s attack helicopters.”

Second US base hit in Jordan, causing more fatalities

A third statement saw the Corps announcing staging “a heavy ballistic-missile strike against the hangars housing long-range RQ-4 and MQ-9 unmanned aircraft at the US airbase in Jordan known as Prince Hassan. A number of drones were destroyed, and several pilots and flight technical crewmembers were killed.” “Several of their technical infrastructure facilities were also set ablaze.”

The latter statement also mourned the martyrdom of Iranian civilians.

“Once again, the hand of Satan has emerged through the sleeve of the child-killing US military,” it said, noting that the atrocity “once again demonstrated the depth of its (the US’s) hatred towards the Muslim Ummah (Nation).”

It ascribed perpetration of the atrocity to the US’s incapability to confront the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces directly, calling it “an act of desperation.”

The IRGC, meanwhile, called on Jordan to stop allowing its soil to be used as a launch pad for such atrocities.

US bases in Erbil, Iraq come under combined strikes

During yet another statement, the IRGC pointed to taking place of combined missile-and-drone strikes on US bases in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan.

The operations “destroyed a maintenance facility and warehouses containing technical equipment belonging to the terrorist US military, and destroyed the guidance system of a US surveillance balloon at the base.”

“The valiant warriors of the Ground Forces also set fire to the fuel storage tanks at the base and killed a number of the aggressors.”

Army drone strikes target US base in Bahrain

Meanwhile, Iran’s Army announced the 29th phase of its Operation Sa’eqeh (Lightning) in response to the most recent enemy attacks.

The 29th phase saw the Army launch “a large-scale [retaliatory] attack using explosive-laden drones against radar installations and gathering points for US terrorist forces at Sheikh Isa Airbase in Bahrain.”

It described the drone strikes as “a forceful and extensive response to the enemy’s acts of aggression,” saying Iranian servicemen “will exact a harsh and regret-inducing revenge on the aggressors.”

The outpost is one of the most important and sensitive US bases in the region, functioning as a major center for the maintenance and repair of helicopters and drone components, and a reconnaissance aircraft hub.

The IRGC, meanwhile, hailed the popular support that has been staged nationwide for the Armed Forces’ steadfast defense of the country in the face of the aggressors.

“Your continued presence has exhausted and frustrated the American enemy, while the resistance and strength demonstrated by your brave warriors in the Strait of Hormuz have pestered the rulers of the White House,” the IRGC concluded, addressing the public.