The United States conducted a new round of airstrikes targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member, and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighbouring Israel.
Step by step, the US and Iran have returned closer to all-out war as last month's interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.
The US military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.
“We hit them very hard again tonight,” U.S. President Donald Trump said. “And we did that in honor of the” soldiers killed.
US launches ninth night of Iran
Earlier, the military said its strikes targeted Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to retaliate for Friday's killing of troops in Jordan. One service member was missing after that attack, and the military's new statement said “unidentified remains” were found Sunday and were being examined. Since the war began, 17 US service members have been killed.
The renewed exchanges of fire, now in their second week, have seen the US target bridges, water desalination plants and electrical facilities in Iran.
The US military’s Central Command announced a new round of strikes early Monday (local time), now into their ninth straight night.
Central Command said it targeted “Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and communications networks".
There was no immediate word from Iran on any casualties or damage from the attacks. Iranian state media reported explosions being heard in southern and northwestern Iran.
As the strikes began, a ship caught fire early Monday in the Strait of Hormuz near the coastline of Oman, the British military said. It was unclear what sparked the blaze off Oman, which has been a route the US military has encouraged ships to travel to avoid Iran's control. The Guard later claimed it was targeting tankers in the strait.
Tehran has retaliated by hitting US-allied countries throughout the Middle East.
Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain again activated air defences for incoming Iranian drones and missiles. Israel warned that missiles launched toward neighbouring Jordan could cause fire to spill over into Israeli territory for the first time in weeks.
Iran says a nuclear site under construction was hit
The US military’s Central Command said it hit “Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defence facilities, maritime capabilities and missile and drone storage sites.” It said the attack was designed to degrade Iran's ability to control the strait and “swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces,” a power base in Iran's theocracy that controls its ballistic missile arsenal.
Footage released by the US military appeared to show strikes carried out by fighter jets and by Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from the sea. One target site appeared to be in a valley of a mountainous region. The Guard often has missile bases and other military equipment tucked into mountain ranges.
Iran’s atomic energy agency said US strikes targeted the construction site of a planned nuclear power plant in the southwest, state television reported.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC of the Darkhovin nuclear plant site showed earth clearing but little construction as of July 9. Iran did not previously announce it as being targeted.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the site, in the “very early stages of construction,” contained no nuclear material when the UN watchdog last visited.
Jordan and nearly every Gulf Arab state have been targets
Jordan's military said it shot down several Iranian missiles. The country hosts major US bases and relies on US air-defence systems. The missiles did not cause casualties or damage, according to Jordan's military.
Jordan later summoned Iran's chargé d’affaires to protest, state-run television reported.
Israel's military said Iranian missiles launched toward the Jordanian port city of Aqaba just across the border could spill over, warning Israelis to expect the first air-raid sirens in weeks.
Eilat, the Israeli city that neighbors Aqaba, cited security officials as saying two interceptors were launched from its outskirts to prevent the fall of debris.
During the latest fighting, Iran has focused attacks on US-allied Arab states rather than Israel, which launched the war with the US on February 28. “We are prepared to immediately resume combat,” the Israeli military chief of staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, said.
Kuwait said one of its power and water desalination plants was attacked for the second time in two days, causing fires. Its Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said the power grid remains stable. In Kuwait, about 90% of drinking water comes from desalination.
The secretary-general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, has accused Iran of war crimes for strikes on infrastructure and civilian facilities.
International humanitarian law generally protects civilian infrastructure such as bridges and power plants from attack, but such sites can lose protections if used for military purposes. In such cases, attacks must be proportionate and minimise civilian harm.
SHARE ME