US launches fresh strikes on Iran, as Trump warns of retaliation for deaths of soldiers
The US military announced that it has launched a new round of attacks against Iran to “further weaken” Iran’s ability to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
These attacks, the 10th in a row, came after US President Donald Trump vowed to punish Iran for the deaths of two US soldiers identified by the Pentagon.
Trump had previously said Iran was hit “very hard” the night before “in honor” of three US soldiers recently killed, two in Jordan and one in Iraq. Iran’s military and communications facilities were hit.
Iran said it was targeting sites in Bahrain, Jordan and Syria, while President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was currently in a “full-scale war” with the United States.
At the same time, Tehran said that despite the ceasefire being broken, both sides were exchanging diplomatic messages through intermediaries.
U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said in X that the latest strikes hit Iran’s “military command centers, naval capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems.”
Commercial ships continue to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Centcom said.
On Tuesday night, the Department of Defense confirmed the identities of two US soldiers killed in Iran’s attack on the Muwaffaq Salti base in Jordan over the weekend – 19-year-old Pte Isabella Gonzales of Texas and 25-year-old Lt. Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii.
Centcom previously said a third soldier also went missing following the attack, and unidentified remains were later found in the area.
Elsewhere in the region, the Jordanian military said late Monday that three Iranian missiles were shot down as sirens warning of fire went off across the country.
Earlier in the day, Kuwaiti armed forces announced that they had seized Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles.
Bahrain said drones launched by Iran targeted air navigation systems but traffic was not affected.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that many cities, including Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini, were hit in connection with the US attacks the previous night.
Iranian state media reported that two oil tankers exploded while the ships were trying to cross the strait.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the tankers were passing through what it called the “unsafe and dangerous southern route” of the strait and were “explodingly stopped.” Centcom disputed the allegations.
