Israel says Iran missile towards Jordan's Aqaba intercepted

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli and Jordanian forces intercepted an Iranian missile aimed at the Jordanian city of Aqaba on Sunday, the Israeli military said, after Amman denied the city’s airport and seaport were evacuated over a threat.

When asked by AFP about reports of explosions near the Israeli city of Eilat, an Israeli military spokeswoman said both Israeli and Jordanian forces had intercepted a projectile.

Minutes before the interception, the Israeli military said it had detected missiles launched from Iran towards Aqaba and warned of the possibility of “spillover” into Israeli territory.

The Jordanian military meanwhile said it had downed “three Iranian missiles that targeted the kingdom’s territory”, while a fourth fell in a deserted area, without specifying where.

Air raid sirens were also activated in the Jordanian capital, Amman, and other parts of the kingdom.

However, the Jordanian government had earlier denied reports that authorities ordered the evacuation of Aqaba’s airport and seaport, after the US embassy said they had been evacuated over a “credible threat”.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani told AFP that “authorities have not issued any decisions to evacuate Aqaba Airport or the seaport, and both are operating normally”, adding that no “potential threats” had been detected.

His comments came after the US embassy in Amman said Jordanian authorities had evacuated the airport and the seaport in Aqaba, citing an unspecified threat.

Momani rejected the claim, saying “the relevant Jordanian authorities did not monitor any possible threats over the past hours.”

The US embassy statement came after the US military announced that two service members were killed in Jordan and one went missing following a barrage of Iranian strikes on Friday.

It marked the first fatalities among its forces since fighting with Iran resumed this month.

Jordan has repeatedly announced that it has countered Iranian attacks in recent days.