The United States has carried out another wave of military strikes against Iran, with President Donald Trump pledging retaliation following the deaths of three American service members in recent attacks blamed on Tehran.

The latest operation marked the 10th consecutive night of US strikes targeting what the military described as Iranian capabilities that could threaten shipping in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes targeted military command centres, missile and drone launch sites, maritime assets and air defence systems in an effort to further weaken Iran’s offensive capabilities.

Trump said Iran had been hit “very hard” during the previous night’s attacks, describing the operation as a response carried out in honour of three US soldiers killed in recent incidents in Jordan and Iraq.

Iran, meanwhile, claimed it had retaliated by attacking two oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz and striking US military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country was now engaged in a “full-scale war” with the United States.

Despite the escalating conflict, Iranian officials said indirect diplomatic contacts between Tehran and Washington were continuing through intermediaries, even after the collapse of a ceasefire.

CENTCOM said commercial shipping was continuing through the Strait of Hormuz despite the latest military exchanges.

Iranian authorities said rescue teams were evacuating the crews of the two damaged oil tankers after the attacks.

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz had reported being struck by an unidentified projectile, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel and take to lifeboats. It was not immediately clear whether the ship was one of the two vessels cited by Iran.

The US Department of Defense identified two of the three American service members killed in an Iranian strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan as Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas, and Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii.

CENTCOM said another service member had initially been reported missing after the attack, with unidentified remains later recovered from the area.

Regional tensions also spread beyond the Gulf.

Jordan’s military said it intercepted three Iranian missiles after air raid sirens warned of incoming attacks, while Kuwait’s armed forces reported shooting down Iranian drones.

Bahrain said Iranian drones targeted its air navigation systems, although authorities said air traffic operations were not disrupted.

Iranian media reported that several cities, including Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini, were hit during overnight US strikes.

State media also reported explosions involving two oil tankers attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed the vessels had been using what it described as an “unsafe and hazardous” southern route through the waterway and said they exploded before coming to a halt.

The US military disputed that account, maintaining that its operations were directed at military targets rather than commercial shipping.
 
 Source: BBC