An Iranian man holds Iran national flag at Valiasr Square in Tehran on July 16, 2026.(AFP)
State media said on July 17 Iran had carried out a strike on a U.S. special operations facility in eastern Syria, marking the first such attack since a regional conflict erupted earlier this year, though Syrian officials denied the claim.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted the U.S. command center at al-Tanf, near Syria’s borders with Jordan and Iraq, in retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers in Iranshahr, state media reported.
A Syrian military source denied that any Iranian attack had taken place near al-Tanf.
“We deny any Iranian bombardment targeting the al-Tanf area,” the anonymous source told AFP. U.S. forces had withdrawn from the base earlier this year after being deployed there as part of a coalition against ISIL.
Syria has sought to avoid being pulled into the broader regional confrontation, which has spread to neighboring countries including Lebanon, where Hezbollah has fought Israeli forces and Iraq, where Iran-backed armed groups have launched drone and rocket attacks.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in March that Syria would remain outside any conflict unless it was directly targeted.
“Unless Syria is targeted by any party, Syria will remain outside any conflict,” Sharaa said at an event hosted by the Chatham House think tank in London.
The reported strike came as tensions between Iran and the United States continued to escalate over control of strategic waterways in the Middle East.
The Revolutionary Guards also said Iran maintained full control over the Strait of Hormuz and warned that no oil or gas exports would pass through the waterway as long as U.S. attacks continued.
The comments renewed concerns over another major maritime chokepoint, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
The narrow waterway, located between Yemen and Djibouti and Eritrea, is a key route for global shipping, including energy shipments traveling from the Persian Gulf through the Suez Canal to European and international markets.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned on July 16 that it could target “all other export corridors that benefit the U.S. and its allies” after Washington reinstated its naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Regional energy exports are either shared by all, or denied to all,” the Guards said in a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
The warning came after Yemen’s Houthi rebels accused Saudi Arabia of violating a four-year ceasefire by carrying out an airstrike on Sanaa airport. The Houthis responded with missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, while senior officials warned they could disrupt shipping through Bab el-Mandeb.
“If the current situation aggravates, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz will be closed in an operational alliance. Oil prices would then skyrocket to $200 a barrel in a dreadful shock,” a senior Houthi official said, according to Iran’s Press TV.
Analysts caution that the Houthis, while supported by Iran, have their own local interests and are not simply acting as an Iranian proxy. However, their threats have raised concerns that Tehran could use its relationship with the group to increase pressure on global trade routes.
The Houthis have previously disrupted commercial shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb during periods of heightened regional tensions, while Iran has long used its influence over the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic tool.
The Bab el-Mandeb is around 18 miles (29 kilometers) wide at its narrowest point and serves as one of the world’s most important maritime passages, connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Disruptions there could affect energy supplies and global shipping markets.
