IRGC strikes US military base in Jordan as Bitcoin holds near $63K and crypto markets absorb $1B in liquidations

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired roughly ten ballistic missiles at Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan on July 9, 2026, targeting command centers and drone hangars used by US military forces. Jordan’s air defense systems intercepted between five and eight of those missiles, and no casualties were reported.

The strike occurred around 2:20 PM local time, with missiles aimed specifically at infrastructure supporting US operations, including aircraft shelters and drone facilities. Jordan’s intercept rate was substantial, but the missiles that got through damaged real assets.

Al-Azraq, also known as Prince Hassan Air Base, hosts US forces and has long been considered a strategic node in the region. Concerns are already circulating about whether US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain could become future targets, given the pattern of escalation now visible across multiple theaters.

This is the most direct IRGC strike on a US-linked military installation since January 2020, when Iran hit Iraq’s Al-Asad Air Base following the US killing of General Qasem Soleimani. The January 2020 Al-Asad strike injured over 100 US service members.

Crypto markets took the hit, then steadied

Bitcoin traded near $63,000 in the hours following the strike. The broader market absorbed over $1 billion in liquidations tied to the geopolitical shock and still did not collapse.

Over $1B in liquidated positions represents leveraged traders who got caught leaning the wrong way when the headlines dropped. A lot of people had borrowed money to bet on crypto prices going up, and the missile news triggered forced selling that wiped out those bets in rapid succession.

Sanctions on Nobitex add a regulatory layer to an already complicated picture

On June 2, 2026, the Treasury imposed sanctions on Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, in a move that directly targets how Iran uses digital assets to navigate the international financial system.

Nobitex has been a critical piece of Iran’s sanctions-evasion infrastructure, with particular reliance on stablecoins. Stablecoins are crypto tokens pegged to fiat currencies like the US dollar, making them attractive for anyone trying to move value across borders while avoiding the traditional banking system.

For crypto exchanges operating in or adjacent to high-risk jurisdictions, the Nobitex sanctions are a signal. If the US government is willing to sanction the largest crypto exchange in a major regional power, the precedent for sanctioning exchanges in other jurisdictions perceived as sanction-risk vectors is now firmly established.

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