US renews strikes on Iran after two military personnel killed by Iranian attack
Written by: Enas Alashray, Hatem Maher and Michael Martina
WASHINGTON/CAIRO, July 19 (Reuters) – The United States has launched new attacks against Iran after the Central Command announced that two US military personnel were killed and another was missing in Jordan following the Iranian attack.
Before Saturday’s attacks, Iran’s supreme leader said Washington would pay the price for “trying to escalate the conflict.”
Central Command said in a statement that the airstrikes began at 18:00 ET (2200 GMT) on the orders of President Donald Trump.
“The strikes are designed to further weaken Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and to quickly punish the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that attacked American soldiers in Jordan last night,” it said, without providing further details. he said.
Iran’s Mehr news agency said the US carried out an attack near Sirik in southern Iran, adding that no casualties or infrastructure damage were reported.
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.
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.
In a written statement made on the official social media accounts of Iran’s religious leader and Iranian state media, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said that the US’s actions show that Trump’s signature is “completely worthless and devoid of credibility.”
The statement warned that the United States would be exposed to “heavier costs and greater humiliation.” 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 in the hope of neutralizing its missile program and regional proxies, has led to major disruptions in energy supplies, fears of global inflation and a war for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
IRANIAN ATTACKS WERE REPORTED IN KUWAIT, BAHRAIN, JORDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA
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 “repeated 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 IRGC did not mention any attacks 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 “with the potential for unpredictable escalation.” Flight cancellations and periodic airspace closures could disrupt travel, the advisory said.
BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF THE THROAT
Previously, US Central Command announced that it had hit Iran’s surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons depots and maritime capabilities.
Three people were killed and eight others were injured in a US airstrike on the southern province of Hormozgan bordering the Strait of Hormuz early Saturday, Iranian state television reported; Two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged.
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 cease 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.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Gareth Jones, Aidan Lewis and Michael Martina; Editing by Alison Williams, Ros Russell, Rod Nickel)
