India, Sept. 9 -- The missiles that struck the Al-Azraq air base in Jordan early Wednesday were launched from ballistic missile systems on Iranian soil, rather than from Iranian aircraft. They traveled hundreds of kilometers through regional airspace before Jordan's Patriot batteries intercepted eighteen of them. Two others landed in unpopulated desert areas. No one was killed.

The limited number of casualties should not obscure the significance of the attack. Iran fired ballistic missiles at a Jordanian military installation hosting nearly four thousand American soldiers and serving as a base for US air assets supporting operations against Tehran. The development marked a significant expansion of the confrontation, demonstrating that t...