The United States launched another wave of airstrikes against Iran on Sunday, targeting Revolutionary Guard facilities in a bid to “swiftly punish” Tehran for killing two American soldiers in Jordan two days earlier — as an interim peace deal that was meant to pause the fighting lay in tatters.
US Central Command said it struck missile and drone storage sites, coastal surveillance systems and air defences, aiming to weaken Iran’s ability to control the Strait of Hormuz. The operation was the eighth consecutive night of American bombing, and came as a US service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.
“US launches eighth night of strikes on Iran after two troops killed, killing 50, as peace deal collapses.”
Iran’s joint military command responded with fury, vowing a “devastating response” to American “bullying”. Tehran said at least 50 people were killed and 517 wounded in the latest US strikes. Iran also launched missiles towards Jordan, with the Jordanian military saying it intercepted several. The US embassy in Jordan warned of a “specific and credible threat” and told Americans to avoid Aqaba’s airport and seaport, though Jordanian authorities denied reports of evacuation.
Iranian forces struck a Kuwaiti power and desalination plant for the second time in two days, sparking a fire in a country that relies on desalination for about 90% of its drinking water. Bahrain reported intercepting attacks, and other Gulf states activated their air defences.
Israel warned that missiles aimed at Aqaba, just across its border, could stray into its territory. Defence minister Israel Katz said Israel would respond “powerfully” to any attack by Iran and was “prepared for both defensive and offensive” action.
The latest escalation follows the collapse of a month-old interim peace deal that was supposed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of the world’s traded oil. Iran announced on Saturday it was suspending its commitments, accusing Washington of violating the deal first.
Despite the fighting, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright insisted oil was still moving through the channel, estimating flows at just under 14 million barrels a day — about two-thirds of pre-conflict traffic.
Iran’s atomic energy agency said US strikes hit the unfinished Darkhovin nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was investigating but that the site, still in early construction, holds no nuclear material and poses no radiological risk.
The deaths of the two US service members in Friday’s attack on a base in Jordan brought the total number of American troops killed in the conflict to 16, with more than 430 wounded. A third service member is missing from that attack. The fighting shows no sign of abating, with neither side backing down and the fragile truce already shattered.