Hours before launching the joint attacks with Saudi Arabia on Iraq, the U.S. military said its air defences had averted a surprise Iranian attack on U.S. troops in the region.
Jordan's military said it had shot down five Iranian missiles. U.S. bases in Jordan have become primary Iranian targets, where three U.S. service members were killed this month in the worst U.S. losses since March.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had fired several ballistic missiles at U.S. military installations in Jordan, and had struck three tankers that were attempting to transit through the Strait of Hormuz along an unauthorised route.
Fighting had first resumed this month after a U.S.-Iran interim deal reached in June collapsed over the fate of the strait, the world's most important energy shipping route, which Iran says it controls and where it aims to collect fees.
Oman proposed a plan for joint regional control of the strait this week, with the backing of Gulf states, that would allow the payment of voluntary service charges. But a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran had rejected the Omani proposal as "unreasonable".
The official said a 50-50 joint control arrangement with Oman would not serve Iran’s interests, though Tehran considers Oman a valuable neighbour. Iran wants sole control over the inbound route and partial control over the outbound route.
The United States has been telling ships to use a route near the Omani shore rather than sailing close to Iran. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said in a statement it continued to maintain full control over the strait and would respond to "unlawful U.S. military interference".
The renewed fighting sent oil prices soaring 6.8%, with Brent crude futures nearing $90 a barrel at 1230 GMT. The price, which had briefly spiked above $100 last week for the first time since May, had tumbled into the mid-80s this week after Trump called off the bombing over the weekend.
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