President Donald Trump said the latest US strikes hit Iran “very hard”, adding that the attacks were “in honour” of three American soldiers killed in recent days — two in Jordan and one in Iraq.
In the early hours of Monday local time, US Central Command (Centcom) launched a “new wave” of strikes for the ninth consecutive night, with explosions heard across several Iranian cities. The US said it had targeted military sites and communications networks to “further diminish” Tehran’s attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Trump says US strikes hit Iran 'in honour' of three soldiers as tankers explode in Strait of Hormuz.”
Iran responded with a “surprise attack” in Syria and targeted US aircraft at Jordan’s Aqaba airport. Kuwait’s armed forces said they had intercepted Iranian drones.
Two oil tankers exploded as they tried to cross the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the tankers were using an “unsafe and hazardous southern route” and “exploded and were brought to a halt”. Centcom disputed the claims. The IRGC warned that the strait “will not be safe for the transit of petrochemical products, nor even a single drop of oil and gas” as long as US strikes continue, and vowed a “punitive operation”.
The US death toll in the conflict has reached 17 after a Navy pilot who went missing earlier this month was declared dead. Over the weekend, a US service member was killed in northern Iraq during a “controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance” from a downed Iranian drone, which also wounded a second soldier. That came a day after an attack on a base in Jordan killed two US soldiers and left another missing. Centcom said it had found “unidentified remains” after a search of the Jordan base, with verification ongoing.
In Iran, at least 50 people have been killed and more than 500 injured in US strikes over the past three weeks, the country’s health ministry said. Iranian media reported that an under-construction nuclear power plant in Darkhoveyn and Qeshm Island were struck overnight. The UN’s nuclear watchdog called for restraint, noting the site was “in the very early stages” and contained no nuclear material during its last visit.
Jordan’s military shot down three Iranian missiles; a fourth fell in a remote area. Jordan summoned Iran’s charges d’affaires in Amman, demanding an end to what it called “unjustified and blatant Iranian attacks”, insisting its security was “a red line that cannot be crossed”. Israel said it launched “several interceptors toward missile debris” to prevent debris falling within its territory.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington “always remains open to a diplomatic solution”, but added that “the world has to decide whether or not it’s going to allow an international waterway to be under the control” of Iran. A preliminary ceasefire reached in mid-June has unravelled, with negotiations for a permanent peace making little progress after Trump declared the agreement “over” on 8 July.
The escalating cycle of strikes risks drawing the region into a wider conflict as both sides reject diplomatic off-ramps.
