US and Saudi jets launched retaliatory airstrikes on IRGC proxy sites in Iraq after intercepting a barrage of ballistic missiles.
WASHINGTON— In a sharp escalation across the Middle East,the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a coordinated salvo of ballistic missiles targeting United States forward operating positions on Tuesday evening, prompting an immediate regional air-defense engagement followed hours later by joint U.S. and Saudi retaliatory airstrikes across eastern Iraq.
The engagement commenced at approximately 5:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, when early-warning satellite constellations and ground-based radar arrays detected multiple ballistic vectors departing launch sites within western Iran. Allied integrated air and missile defense batteries—including forward-deployed Patriot PAC-3 units and naval Aegis interceptors—scrambled into firing status, successfully intercepting every inbound projectile before impact.