The United States military launched "powerful" strikes on Iran on Thursday, in retaliation for Tehran's attacks targeting US bases in Jordan as the Middle East war reignited and again drew in the Islamic republic's proxies.The first strikes after a nearly week-long lull in fighting dashed hopes of a return to negotiations."The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday's attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East", US Central Command said.On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia and the US announced strikes on militant bases in Iraq, while US ally Israel accused Iran-backed Hezbollah of a truce violation.For two days, the world's biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has reported drone attacks targeting crude facilities that it blamed on Iraqi armed groups allied with Iran.Iran meanwhile launched missiles at US ally Jordan, with Iranian state media later reporting a US attack near its border with Iraq."We'll be hitting them hard They're going to get a beating," Trump told Fox News' correspondent before strikes, swearing for emphasis: "We are going to beat the 'effing s' out of them."Saudi security analyst and researcher Hesham Alghannam told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency: "Tehran is now using its proxy network to sustain leverage while the diplomatic track absorbs international attention."Iran's state television, meanwhile, reported a US strike in the Piranshahr border area, after the Fars news agency quoted an official in West Azerbaijan province as saying a missile hit an uninhabited area, leaving no casualties.Earlier, Jordan's army said it had intercepted five Iranian missiles, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards saying they had targeted US bases there."As long as the threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran continue ..