Iran struck a U.S. Air Force base stationed in Saudi Arabia, injuring 12 service members.
According to reports by U.S. outlets including the New York Times (NYT) and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 28th local time, the day before, the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia came under attack from missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) launched from Iran.
U.S. and Arab officials said at least one missile struck the base and several drones also flew in. In the attack, 12 U.S. troops inside base buildings were injured, two of them seriously. They added that at least two KC-135 aerial refueling tankers deployed at the base were significantly damaged.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, Spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which has unified command over Iran's armed forces, claimed that one U.S. refueling tanker was completely destroyed in the attack and three others were damaged to the point of being inoperable, Russia's RIA Novosti reported.
Since war broke out when the United States and Israel launched a surprise strike on Iran on the 28th of last month, Prince Sultan Air Base has repeatedly become a target of Iranian retaliation. According to the Iranian military, from the 28th of last month through the day before, it attacked Prince Sultan Air Base three times. It counted 16 attacks on the Al Dhafra base in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and 15 each on the Ali Al Salem base in the Jahra area of Kuwait and the U.S. 5th Fleet in Manama, Bahrain.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. operations in the Middle East, said the previous day that about 303 U.S. service members have been injured since the launch of the "Vast Fury" operation against Iran.