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Hormuz and Jordan
CENTCOM said Iran targets base housing US forces in Jordan after Jordan’s military said it intercepted eight missiles fired from Iran on July 9, and the IRGC said it struck a US "command-and-control center in West Asia and the enemy air base in Al-Azraq, Jordan, with 10 ballistic missiles."
RFE/RL reported CENTCOM’s “fact check” on July 9, posting on X that "Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz," while adding that since early May U.S. forces helped facilitate the successful transit of more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil.
In the same reporting, Iranian state media said a "US-Israeli projectile" hit a military headquarters on the outskirts of Bushehr, while American officials denied that US forces were conducting attacks at the time.
The RFE/RL account also said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told a military ceremony on July 9 that his country was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if necessary and "with even greater force" than previous strikes.
Araqchi’s calls
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stepped up efforts to build up support internationally, with the Foreign Ministry in Tehran saying on July 9 that he spoke by phone with counterparts and officials from Pakistan, Turkey, and Oman.
In the Pakistan call, Araqchi warned against any further US military "adventurism" and condemned US strikes on Iran as a violation of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tehran.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry also said Araqchi held separate phone calls with Omani and Turkish counterparts, and the talks focused on the Strait of Hormuz and the latest developments in the region.
RFE/RL’s account tied the diplomacy to a wider pattern of tit-for-tat strikes, noting that Pakistan and Oman have been acting as mediators in negotiations between Washington and Tehran in recent weeks, although talks appear to have stalled.
Competing claims and next steps
RFE/RL reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he and US President Donald Trump spoke by phone on July 9 and that Trump updated Netanyahu on "American moves in the Gulf," while Netanyahu said the Iranian axis was weaker than ever before but that "the campaign is not over."
On the Iranian side, the RFE/RL report said Iranian state media reported a projectile hit a military headquarters on the outskirts of Bushehr, while authorities reported a projectile had hit the perimeter of the plant and US officials had not acknowledged striking the site.
In parallel, the RFE/RL account said two US officials told reporters the American military is "not currently conducting strikes," while leaving open whether the possibility existed for strikes later in the night or early on July 10.
The same reporting placed the immediate stakes on the Strait of Hormuz, where CENTCOM said transit is an international waterway and that Tehran has no right to control it, even as the IRGC said it targeted an air base in Al-Azraq, Jordan.
