ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The claims by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that it destroyed three American F-35 fighter jets at a base in Jordan are false, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Thursday, further accusing Iranian forces of posing an "immediate threat" to commercial and civilian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
"The IRGC claims three U.S. F-35 stealth fighters and three other aircraft were destroyed during a recent Iranian attack on an American air base," the Command stated, noting that "no U.S. aircraft were destroyed or damaged in recent attempted Iranian attacks."
"All missiles and drones were intercepted or failed to reach targeted areas," the Command added.
The denial came shortly after the IRGC said in a statement that its "aerospace forces attacked the parking ramp and maintenance hangar of the American enemy's F-35 fighters at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base [al-Azraq Air Base] with several ballistic missiles, completely destroying three F-35 aircraft and causing heavy damage to three others."
"Several enemy officers, technical crew, and maintenance personnel were also killed" in the purported assault, the Corps added.
Earlier on Thursday, the Jordanian armed forces reported that the kingdom’s air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran.
In a previous statement issued the same day, the IRGC said Thursday it had forced two vessels to reroute in the Strait of Hormuz.
"Last night, two oil tankers - prompted by American aircraft - attempted to exit via the unsafe southern route of the Strait of Hormuz," the Corps said, adding that after "a massive fire broke out in one of them, both vessels swiftly turned back."
“The Strait of Hormuz is our territory, and the brave fighters of the IRGC Navy firmly hold control over it," the IRGC said, adding that "foreigners who have traveled thousands of kilometers will not be permitted to interfere."
CENTCOM on Thursday stated that "the immediate dangers posed to commercial vessels and their civilian crews [transiting Hormuz] are the IRGC's verbal threats and attempted attacks."
The tensions come as the US completed a new wave of strikes against Iran in the early morning hours of Thursday, after having paused hostilities with Iran on Friday, following strikes and counterstrikes that had continued since July 8.
The escalation also comes despite the two sides signing the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding in mid-June, which established a ceasefire on all fronts and reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.
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