Iran’s elite paramilitary forces tried to launch a surprise attack on U.S. forces stationed in the Middle East, only to see none of the missiles fired reach their intended targets.
Big picture view:
U.S. Central Command explained that Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired multiple missiles from Iranian soil at 5:45 p.m. ET, which is 1:45 a.m. in Iran, and all of them were “successfully intercepted.”
In a later statement, CENTCOM revealed the Revolutionary Guard had launched over 30 aerial drone attacks in the past 72 hours at U.S. forces and Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure. Those were not successful either, it added.
US airstrikes
In its second statement on Tuesday night, CENTCOM revealed a joint operation with the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces that targeted terrorists in Iraq that are aligned with the Revolutionary Guard.
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CENTCOM noted that Iran-aligned militias attempted more than 600 attacks on U.S. citizens and facilities between February and April. It did not provide a figure that covered May and June.
An F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 105, launches from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), July 21, 2026. George H.W. Bush is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations
The backstory:
The attempted surprise attack ended a multi-day pause in hostilities that ended nearly two weeks of nightly exchanges between the two nations. It also came on the same day as Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump in Washington.
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