Iranian missiles target south Jordan, two Iron Dome interceptors fired

The US embassy issued an urgent notice to American citizens in Jordan instructing them to avoid the airport and seaport in Aqaba entirely and to stay away from military bases across the kingdom.

By Gila Isaacson, JFeed

The IDF said Sunday it had detected ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward the Jordanian city of Aqaba, directly across the water from Eilat, warning that debris or fallout from the strikes could spill over into Israeli territory.

An IDF spokesperson said there may be spillover into Israeli territory as a result of the fire and that sirens could be activated in southern Israel as a precaution.

The military said that if a siren sounds, residents should enter protected spaces immediately and remain there until further notice, adding that for now there is no change to Home Front Command guidelines and that the public will be updated if the assessment changes.

No sirens were ultimately activated in Eilat itself, although Israel’s Iron Dome launched interceptors over fears of falling debris.

In addition, a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv turned around in mid-air due to the launches.

According to the Times of Israel, the US Aegis system intercepted the missiles headed toward Aqaba.

Aqaba sits directly across the Gulf of Eilat from the Israeli city and from Israeli communities in the Arava region, separated by only a few kilometers.

That immediate proximity has repeatedly raised concern within Israel’s defense establishment that interceptor debris or fragments of incoming missiles could land on Israeli soil, as has happened in past rounds of fighting in the area.

Earlier Sunday, Jordanian authorities reportedly evacuated Aqaba’s international airport and seaport entirely, according to the US embassy in Amman, though Jordanian officials, per Al Jazeera, denied that any evacuation had taken place.

The evacuation was said to follow specific and credible intelligence of a concrete threat.

Shortly afterward, the US embassy issued an urgent notice to American citizens in Jordan instructing them to avoid the airport and seaport in Aqaba entirely and to stay away from military bases across the kingdom.

The developments come just hours after US Central Command confirmed that two American soldiers were killed and a third remains missing following a direct Iranian strike on a US military base in Jordan, the first American combat deaths in the country since fighting resumed in the region.

Officials in Washington told American media that beyond the two fatalities, dozens of American troops have been wounded in varying degrees over recent days amid repeated waves of strikes.

The fatal strike reportedly hit Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a strategic facility that has also previously hosted the advanced American THAAD missile defense system, which was itself damaged in earlier rounds of fighting.

US and regional defense officials have expressed deep concern over the technological capabilities Iran displayed in its recent attacks, with military experts noting the missiles used showed unusually high speed and maneuverability as they approached their targets, complicating interception efforts by Western defense systems.

Washington’s central worry is that Tehran is receiving close technological and intelligence assistance from powers such as Russia or China aimed at improving the accuracy of strikes on sensitive American assets. Media outlets aligned with the Iranian regime, meanwhile, moved quickly to publicize satellite imagery they say shows the strike destroyed hangars used to prepare fighter jets at the American base.

The American response was swift, with US forces launching a broad new wave of strikes on Iran, marking the eighth consecutive night of American attacks.

The exchanges triggered sirens and warning signals overnight in neighboring Kuwait and Bahrain as well, underscoring the potential for the fighting to spread into a wider regional war.

Jordan, a longtime Western ally and a quiet security partner of Israel, has found itself increasingly on the front line of the conflict, with the direct threat to Aqaba raising alarm within Israel’s security establishment given its immediate proximity to Eilat and the Arava.

Following the rapid escalation, the US State Department raised its alert level and issued a global travel advisory, along with a specific warning for the Middle East explicitly naming Jordan and Israel.

Americans were urged to reconsider travel to the entire region given the potential for unpredictable escalation and concern that diplomatic facilities could become targets.

The public has also been warned of possible severe travel disruptions, mass flight cancellations and possible regional airspace closures in the immediate term, effects already being felt in Middle East flight schedules.

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