Trump says US strikes hit Iran in ‘honour’ of American soldiers killed
President Donald Trump said the latest US attacks hit Iran “very hard”, adding that the attacks were made “in honor” of three US soldiers killed in recent days, two in Jordan and one in Iraq.
Early Monday local time, US Central Command (Centcom) said it had launched a “new wave” of attacks for the ninth consecutive night as explosions were heard across Iran.
The US said it targeted military facilities and communications networks to “further reduce” Tehran’s attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran said it responded with a “surprise attack” in Syria, targeting US planes at Jordan’s Aqaba airport.
Elsewhere in the region, Kuwaiti armed forces said they had captured Iranian drones.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that many cities were hit by the US attacks, including Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini.
There were also reports in Iranian state media that two oil tankers exploded while the ships were trying to cross the strait.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the tankers had passed through what it called the “unsafe and dangerous southern route” of the strait and were “explodingly stopped”. Centcom disputed the allegations.
The Revolutionary Guard added that as long as US attacks continue, the strait “will not be safe for the passage of petrochemical products, even a single drop of oil and gas” and that it will respond with a “punitive operation”.
Over the weekend, the United States confirmed that a soldier was killed following an Iranian attack on northern Iraq on Saturday.
The death came a day after an attack on a base in Jordan in which two US soldiers were reported killed and another missing. The US said “unidentified remains” had been found and verification of the remains was ongoing.
While the weekend attacks between the USA and Iran continued, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the USA is “always open to a diplomatic solution”.
He also said that “the world must decide whether to allow an international waterway to be under Iranian control,” saying Tehran was using the critical shipping route as leverage.
Trump’s comments come as a preliminary agreement to halt hostilities unraveled in mid-June and negotiations for a permanent peace have made little progress after Trump declared the agreement “done” on July 8.
