After the United States announced on Friday that it successfully conducted retaliatory strikes targeting Iranian forces and Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria in response to last week's drone attack on Jordan, questions have escalated regarding the involvement of Jordanian fighters in the operation. Reports indicated that F-16 aircraft from the Royal Jordanian Air Force participated in the U.S.-led airstrikes against the IRGC and Iranian-backed groups last night, likely as a response to the drone attack against a U.S. base at the Jordanian border, known as "Tower 22."
It was noted that Jordanian aircraft joined the operation after targets were identified, according to the Wall Street Journal. The role of Jordan appeared to signify solidarity with the United States following the drone strike on Tower 22, which is a military site in Jordan near the Syrian border. The U.S. Central Command reported that three American military personnel were killed and over 40 injured at Tower 22, stating that approximately 350 personnel from the U.S. ground and air forces are deployed at the base, carrying out several essential support missions, including supporting coalition forces against ISIS.
Jordan had previously participated in the airstrikes during the initial phase of the campaign against ISIS, which began in 2014, and lost a pilot who was captured and executed by ISIS. However, Jordanian jets had not been targeted by Iranian-backed militias in a coordinated operation with the United States, according to Charles Lister from the Middle East Institute, a research center in Washington.
