US President Donald Trump has warned that Iran will face severe consequences over the deaths of US soldiers, declaring that Tehran would pay “many times over”.
Trump issued the warning on Monday, hours after stating that the latest US strikes on Iran, which he said hit the country “very hard”, were carried out in honour of three US soldiers killed in recent attacks — two in Jordan and one in Iraq, reports BBC.
According to the US military, the strikes marked the ninth consecutive night of operations and targeted military and communications facilities to “further diminish” Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran said it had launched attacks on sites in Bahrain and Syria and had also targeted US aircraft in Jordan.
Later, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country was engaged in a “full-scale war” with the United States.
Despite the collapse of the ceasefire, Tehran said both sides continued to exchange diplomatic messages through intermediaries.
Late on Monday, Jordan’s military said it intercepted three Iranian missiles after air raid sirens sounded across the country warning of incoming attacks.
Earlier, Kuwait’s armed forces announced that they had intercepted Iranian drones.
Bahrain also reported that Iranian drones had targeted its air navigation systems, although air traffic operations remained unaffected.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the latest US strikes hit several cities, including Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini.
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 were travelling through what it described as an “unsafe and hazardous southern route” of the strait and “exploded and were brought to a halt”.
However, US Central Command (Centcom) disputed the claim.
The IRGC further warned that the Strait of Hormuz “will not be safe for the transit of petrochemical products, nor even a single drop of oil and gas” as long as US strikes continued, adding that it would respond with a “punitive operation”.
Over the weekend, the United States confirmed that one service member had been killed in an Iranian attack in northern Iraq on Saturday.
The announcement followed an earlier attack on a US base in Jordan on Friday, in which two soldiers were killed.
The Pentagon identified them as Pte Isabella Gonzales, 19, and Lt Tyler James Feehan, 25.
A third service member remains missing following the Jordan attack, while US officials said “unidentified remains” had been recovered during the ongoing search.
As military operations continued over the weekend, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “always remains open to a diplomatic solution”.
Rubio also said “the world has to decide whether or not it’s going to allow an international waterway to be under the control” of Iran, arguing that Tehran was using the strategically important shipping route as leverage.
His remarks came as a preliminary agreement reached in mid-June to halt the fighting continued to unravel.
Efforts to negotiate a permanent peace have made little progress since Trump declared the agreement was “over” on 8 July.
