U.S. Renews Strikes On Iran After Two Military Personnel Killed By Iranian Attack

WASHINGTON/CAIRO, July 19 (Reuters) – The United States said it had completed its eighth night of attacks on Iran, after previously saying two U.S. military personnel were killed in Jordan and another was missing following an Iranian attack.

The United States and Iran have intensified their attacks since the collapse of a temporary ceasefire agreement signed a month ago last week, raising the possibility of a return to all-out war.

US Central Command said in a statement that the air strikes began at 18:00 (2200 GMT) on Saturday on the orders of President Donald Trump.

The statement stated that “the attacks were designed to further weaken Iran’s ability to threaten commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and to quickly punish the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Forces who attacked American soldiers in Jordan last night.”

Central Command later said it completed the wave of attacks by striking Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities.

Iran’s Mehr news agency stated that the USA carried out an attack near Sirik in southern Iran and said that no loss of life or infrastructure damage was reported. Tasnim news agency said the US military also targeted an area near Shadegan, close to the Iraqi border.

The Iranian military then carried out a drone strike targeting US military assets and equipment at the Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Iranian state television reported, citing a statement from the military early Sunday. Both bases have been targeted as part of Iran’s attacks on US assets and allies in the Gulf since last week.

Central Command said the two deaths occurred Friday and a third U.S. service member was missing in action. With the announcement, the number of US soldiers killed since the beginning of the war increased to 16, while more than 420 people were injured.

“Their sacrifice only strengthens our resolve,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared on X.

Iran appeared to target Saudi Arabia as well as US Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday, after the US attacked Iranian bridges, energy facilities and other infrastructure.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in a written statement made on the official social media accounts of Iran’s religious leader and Iranian state media, said that the US’s actions show that Trump’s signature is “completely worthless and devoid of credibility.”

The statement warned of “heavier costs and more humiliation” for the USA. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Khamenei’s whereabouts are still a mystery.

The conflict, which began when the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran in late February hoping to disable its nuclear and missile programs and weaken its regional proxies, has led to major disruptions in energy supplies, fears of global inflation and a war for control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Kuwait came under sustained attack on Saturday, with armed forces saying they had intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles and drones and some firefighters and oil industry workers were injured while responding to the attacks.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it struck a US military support center at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and destroyed a radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base. The Kuwait Oil Company later said one of its oil facilities had been hit in “successive Iranian attacks”, causing serious damage and some injuries, according to the state news agency.

Iranian media said the Revolutionary Guard also targeted an area where US warplanes gather and an intelligence data center at Bahrain’s Sheikh Issa Air Base.

The Guard also destroyed at least two US warplanes and three other aircraft during a missile and drone attack on a US base in Al Azraq, Jordan, early Saturday, according to Iranian state television.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Saudi Arabia’s early warning system issued alerts early on Saturday urging residents of Al-Kharj and Yanbu to take shelter. Al-Kharj, east of Riyadh, hosts a military base hosting US troops, while Yanbu on the Red Sea has a major oil export terminal.

The first Iranian missile attack on Saudi Arabia in more than three months triggered alarms, two people briefed on the matter said. The government’s media office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Revolutionary Guard did not mention any attack against Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. State Department on Saturday issued a global travel warning for Americans abroad, noting rising tensions in the Middle East that “have the potential for unpredictable escalation.” Flight cancellations and periodic airspace closures could disrupt travel, the advisory said.

Previously, US Central Command announced that it had hit Iran’s surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons depots and maritime capabilities.

A US airstrike in the southern province of Hormozgan bordering the Strait of Hormuz early Saturday killed three people and injured eight others, damaging two bridges and a road tunnel, Iranian state television reported.

Iran’s Ministry of Health said on Saturday that 50 people were killed and more than 500 were injured in US attacks on the country in the past three weeks.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei generally accused the United States of trying to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

Both sides target ship traffic; While the United States says it is imposing a naval blockade, Iran says it is targeting ships that violate navigation rules in the strait.

The European Union and Gulf states called on Iran to immediately and unconditionally stop all attacks and interference with maritime navigation and keep the strait open without conditions or fees, according to a joint statement reported by Saudi state television on Saturday.