United States President Donald Trump has said that the latest wave of US military strikes on Iran was carried out in honour of three American soldiers killed in recent attacks in the Middle East, as hostilities between the two countries continue to intensify.

Speaking after the overnight operation, Trump said the strikes hit Iran “very hard” and described them as a response to the deaths of US service members. According to US officials, two American soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in Jordan, while another service member died following an Iranian attack in northern Iraq. US authorities also reported that unidentified human remains had been recovered after the Jordan attack, with verification still ongoing.

The strikes were launched in the early hours of Monday local time, marking the ninth consecutive night of US military operations against Iranian targets. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the attacks focused on military installations and communications networks with the aim of reducing Iran’s ability to carry out attacks on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes.

Explosions were reported across several Iranian cities, including Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

Iran condemned the attacks and announced that it had launched what it described as a “surprise attack” in Syria while also targeting US aircraft at Jordan’s Aqaba Airport. Meanwhile, Kuwait’s armed forces said they had intercepted Iranian drones entering the region.

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Iranian state media also reported that two oil tankers exploded while attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed the vessels had taken what it described as an unsafe southern route through the waterway and warned that the strait would remain unsafe for the transportation of oil and petrochemical products as long as US military operations continued. CENTCOM disputed the IRGC’s account of the incidents.

The Strait of Hormuz remains a strategically significant maritime passage through which a substantial portion of the world’s oil exports passes. Any disruption to shipping in the area has the potential to affect global energy markets and international trade.

Despite the continuing military exchanges, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington remained open to diplomacy. He stated that the United States was willing to pursue a peaceful resolution but argued that the international community must decide whether Iran should be allowed to exercise control over a vital international waterway.

The renewed fighting follows the collapse of a preliminary ceasefire agreement reached in mid-June. Negotiations aimed at securing a permanent peace have made little progress since President Trump declared the agreement “over” on 8 July.

(BBC News)