The US military has launched a “heavy wave of strikes” against Iran in retaliation against Tehran targeting American bases in Jordan – but the offensive has raised fresh questions about America’s depleted supply of munitions.
The reignited hostilities have drawn in the Islamic Republic’s proxies and appear to have dashed hopes of a quick return to negotiations between the foes.
US President Donald Trump had vowed to hit Iran “hard” after Tehran launched missiles at Jordan, its first regional strike in days.
US Central Command (Centcom) said American forces “successfully completed a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” and struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets including military command centres.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported hits on several cities in the southwestern Khuzestan province, as well as on Qeshm island in the Gulf.
IRGC said three of its members were killed in an attack on the northwestern province of Zanjan, It said the members “attained martyrdom” after “the brutal attack carried out by the terrorist regime of the criminal United States”.
In a sign of the war’s spread, Saudi Arabia and the United States announced strikes on militant bases in Iraq, while US ally Israel accused Iran-backed Hezbollah of a truce violation.
Jordan’s army said it had intercepted five Iranian missiles, after IRGC said it had targeted US bases there.
Nevertheless, peace talks mediator Pakistan insisted that negotiations between Iran and the US were ongoing.
Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said: “Negotiations between parties are ongoing, particularly on the Strait of Hormuz and to de-escalate.”
Tehran’s forces have carried out frequent missile and drone attacks in the Middle East since the breakdown of the US-Iran ceasefire, raising renewed concerns about Washington’s supply of the weapons needed to intercept them.
Highlighting the issue, the US military said it shot down multiple ballistic missiles fired by Tehran in an “attempted surprise attack” this week.
Some lawmakers have raised questions about whether the US has sufficient munitions since early in the war. US Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen said: “We have depleted our interceptors ... which are, obviously, necessary to protect American troops.
“We are depleting these every day, despite the fact that we could face other potential conflicts around the world.”
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has previously dismissed fears about Washington’s weapons supplies, and the US military has not publicly released details about how many interceptors it has.
But US media outlets have reported that General Dan Caine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has raised concerns about falling US interceptor supplies.
Trump was asked about the issue and said that while stocks were sufficient, he wanted more.
He said: “We have a lot of ammunition, different types. For some of the more sophisticated stuff, we’d certainly like to have more.”
Trump blamed former President Joe Biden, saying “so much was given to Ukraine” to help Kyiv’s forces defend against repeated Russian missile and drone attacks.
But Trump’s war against Iran has resulted in major reductions in US weapons supplies.
An analysis by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank released this week found that US stocks of key Patriot and THAAD air defence missiles have been slashed by the conflict.
Before it began, the United States had more than 2300 Patriot and more than 450 THAAD interceptors – figures that CSIS estimated have been roughly halved or more in the subsequent five months of war.
A statement said: “The air defence campaign has been largely successful with high – though not perfect – interception rates.”
But “this has required extensive use of interceptors”, the statement added.
The United States is pushing hard for defence companies to increase the pace at which weapons, including interceptors, are produced.
Trump referred to these efforts on Monday, saying: “Plants are being built. A lot of equipment is being built. The Patriots, in particular, are being built.”
The CSIS analysis said the US still faced dangers from interceptor shortfalls.
It said: “Diminished stockpiles may force the United States and its coalition partners to take more risks with interceptions [while] expended munitions create a near- to medium-term risk for US readiness to fight a war against China in the western Pacific.”
Asked if the Pentagon was concerned about current munitions supplies, chief spokesman Sean Parnell said the US military “has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing”.
He said: “We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the US military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests.”
- AFP