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The U.S. said it had completed an eighth straight night of attacks on Iran after earlier announcing that two U.S. military personnel were killed in Jordan, while U.S. allies in the region reported more Iranian attacks on Sunday.
The U.S. and Iran have intensified attacks as an interim ceasefire deal signed a month ago has unravelled and a struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz has deepened, raising the risk of a return to all-out hostilities.
Israeli officials said the country was preparing to receive more U.S. refuelling aircraft after the recent escalation and ahead of a possible expansion of American military operations against Iran.
U.S. Central Command said the latest airstrikes, which began at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, were designed “to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan.”
Central Command later said it had completed its wave of attacks, hitting Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defence facilities.
The conflict, which began when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, hoping to disable its nuclear and missile programs and degrade its regional proxies, has led to major disruption to energy supplies and fears over global inflation.
Site of under-construction nuclear plant attacked
Iranian reports said the U.S. carried out an attack near Sirik in southern Iran and near Shadegan, close to the border with Iraq.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization condemned a U.S. attack on the site of a nuclear power plant under construction in Darkhovin, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was investigating reports of an overnight attack, noting that the plant was in the early stages of construction.
In response to the latest strikes, Iran carried out a drone attack that targeted U.S. military assets and equipment at Kuwait’s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem Air Base, Iranian state TV reported early Sunday. Both bases have been targeted as part of Iran’s attacks against U.S. assets and allies in the Gulf since last week.
United States Central Command announced Saturday that two service members have been killed and one is missing following Iranian strikes on a U.S. base in Jordan. These strikes follow a week of attacks by the U.S. on Iranian infrastructure sites.
Kuwait’s Electricity Ministry said a desalination plant had been attacked for the second day running, causing a fire. Kuwait’s armed forces said earlier they had again intercepted Iranian missiles, after a sustained Iranian attack on Saturday.
Bahrain’s air defences also intercepted an Iranian attack on Sunday, its state TV reported. Sirens sounded in Jordan, where the military said it had shot down three Iranian missiles. The Israeli military said it had detected the launch of missiles from Iran toward the Jordanian city of Aqaba, on Israel’s border.
In recent days, both sides have taken aim at shipping traffic. The U.S. said it’s enforcing a naval blockade on Iran, and Tehran said it’s targeting vessels violating its rules on navigating the Strait of Hormuz, which usually handles one-fifth of global oil supply.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Sunday that four vessels had attempted to transit the strait via an “unsafe route” with U.S. backing after ignoring IRGC warnings. It said two had abandoned the attempt while the other two were involved in an “accident.” It did not elaborate.
Deaths of 2 U.S. service members
Central Command said two of its service personnel were killed Friday and a third U.S. service member was missing in action. The announcement brought the number of U.S. service members killed since the war began to 16, with over 420 have been wounded.
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”
Iranian state media carried a message from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, promising revenge against U.S. President Donald Trump after the death of his father.
Trump has threatened to target Iran’s power stations and bridges to try to compel Tehran to loosen its hold on the Strait of Hormuz. Recent attacks suggest the U.S. military is carrying out that plan, beginning first with coastal areas of Iran on the strait.
Iran’s Health Ministry said on Saturday that 50 people had been killed and more than 500 wounded in U.S. strikes on thecountry over the past three weeks alone.
Overall, thousands have been killed and several million internally displaced in the conflict, mainly in Iran and in Lebanon, where a war between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah was reignited.
In a written statement carried by Iranian state media late on Saturday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said U.S. actions had shown that U.S. President Donald Trump’s signature was “utterly worthless and devoid of credibility.”
The statement warned of “even heavier costs and further humiliation” for the United States. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Khamenei’s whereabouts remain a mystery. He has not been seen in public since before his father and predecessor as supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran on Feb. 28.