Iran launches “surprise attack” on US bases, rejects Oman proposal for joint Hormuz management

After a four-day pause in direct US-Iran hostilities, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched an “attempted surprise attack” on US military bases in the region, the US Central Command said. A US military base in Jordan was reportedly targeted, Axios reports, while the Royal Jordanian Air Force says it shot down a drone that had entered the country’s airspace over the eastern desert yesterday.

Iran also just shot down a proposal from Oman that would have seen a regional management system in place for the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports. Muscat had reportedly presented Tehran with a Gulf-backed mechanism modeled on cooperation in the Strait of Malacca. The proposal would have prevented any one state from controlling Hormuz and create a voluntary fund paid into by users to cover navigation management, environmental protection, and search-and-rescue services.

IN CONTEXT- Oman had previously introduced temporary routes north and south of Hormuz’s regular traffic lanes, while Iran pushed ships toward monitored crossings close to its coast for maritime services.

MEANWHILE- Kuwait is deepening its defense web, ratifying a wide-ranging defense cooperation agreement with Pakistan three years after signing. The pact is built around institutional collaboration — military training, intelligence, communications systems, joint R&D, and military manufacturing and supply chains, Kuwait Times reports.