US launches fresh airstrikes on Iran; Trump says hitting ‘very hard’ to honour American troops killed | World

The United States launched a new round of airstrikes early Monday targeting Iran after a US service member was killed and another injured during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone in northern Iraq, announced the US Central Command (CENTCOM). The fresh strikes mark the ninth consecutive night of American military operations against targets in Iran as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate.

As the strikes began, a ship caught fire 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.

“CENTCOM began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran at 7 p.m. ET today for the ninth consecutive night. The strikes will continue degrading Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.

US hitting Iran ‘very hard’: Trump 

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said the latest military strikes on Iran were being carried out in honor of US service members killed in recent days. “We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the, probably three, it’s probably three great patriots,” Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington following the World Cup final.

Trump said, “We feel very badly,” when asked about the military fatalities, adding that those who died were fighting so that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Another soldier was killed in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone. In a statement on Sunday, CENTCOM said the soldier died on July 18 and that a second service member suffered mild injuries during the detonation. It did not name the soldier who died.

The death on Saturday brought the number of US service members killed since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran to 17. The war began on February 28. 

Iran launches new wave of missiles

Iran has retaliated by hitting US-allied countries throughout the Middle East. Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait again activated air defenses for incoming Iranian drones and missiles.

Tehran launched a new wave of missiles from the western province of Lorestan toward “enemy targets,” the official news agency IRNA reported on Monday.

The US Embassy in Bahrain issued a warning saying “Iran may seek to target unspecified locations in central Manama,” the capital, without elaborating.

Israel also warned that missiles launched toward neighboring Jordan could cause fire to spill over into Israeli territory for the first time in weeks.

(With AP and AFP inputs)

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