The US has launched a fresh wave of airstrikes on Iran in retaliation for the deaths of two American service members who were killed in a missile attack on an air base in Jordan.
Central Command vowed to ‘punish’ Tehran with a new barrage of strikes which began at 6pm EST on Saturday, marking the eighth consecutive night of attacks against Iran.
‘The strikes are 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 last night,’ CENTCOM said in a statement.
The new action came after Iranian strikes hit the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Friday. In addition to the two fatalities, one service member is missing in action, and four others were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals in the attack. The troops have since been discharged, CENTCOM added.
‘Out of respect for the families, CENTCOM will withhold additional information, including the identities of the fallen warriors, until 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified,’ the agency said.
A video depicting a projectile hitting the base circulated on social media. The timing of the video and whether it showed the moments US soldiers were targeted are unconfirmed.
The location of the video was confirmed by the New York Times and a NASA satellite captured a large fire burning on Friday night in the same location.
President Trump told NewsNation that the soldiers’ deaths were a ‘very sad thing.’
Two US service members have been killed in Jordan after their military base was struck by an Iranian attack on July 17. Pictured: A US strike from an American Navy cruiser launched on Friday
CENTCOM said in a statement on Saturday evening that new airstrikes have been launched against Iran at Trump’s direction
Shortly before Friday’s attack on Jordan, Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that the US strikes on Iran would lead to ‘unforgettable lessons’ for the US, accusing President Trump of ‘seeking to escalate the conflict’
‘We hate to see it happen. It’s in service to our country,’ he added, before reiterating his goal of ‘never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump’s sentiment on X, writing: ‘Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.’
However, Trump struck a more threatening tone in his directives to CENTCOM, reportedly telling troops to ‘open the gates of hell’ on Iran, according to Israeli broadcaster C14 News.
He previously used similar language when negotiating with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, writing on Truth Social in April, ‘Open the F***** Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.’
The deaths were the 15th and 16th among US servicemembers since the war with Iran began in February, with more than 430 others wounded.
After news broke of the deaths, Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, called the US’s actions in the region ‘criminal,’ referring to the country as the ‘Great Satan.’
‘The Great Satan – the criminal US – has now realized that the continuation of its trouble-free, domineering presence in the region is nothing but a naive fantasy,’ he wrote on his official X account.
The attacks from Iran came amid a fresh blitz across the Middle East in recent days, after negotiations with the Trump administration broke down and a ceasefire ended.
On Friday, Iranian Revolutionary Guards retaliated with tit-for-tat attacks at US targets in Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Syria.
Shortly before Friday’s attack on Jordan, Khamenei said that the US strikes on Iran would lead to ‘unforgettable lessons’ for the US, accusing President Trump of ‘seeking to escalate the conflict.’
Hours after the US service members’ deaths were announced, Iranian state media said several IRGC missiles were fired at an unspecified vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in February, issued the chilling threat through a spokesperson on state TV.
A video circulated online appearing to show a projectile hitting the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Stills from the video are pictured above
Saturday’s attack marks the eighth consecutive night of strikes on Iran. CENTCOM promised to ‘punish’ the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after US service members were killed. Pictured above are strikes on Iranian military sites on Friday
The Iranian leader said Trump’s signature is now ‘worthless and invalid,’ after a tentative ceasefire agreement reached in April – and formally agreed upon last month – dramatically fell apart in recent days.
The remarks came hours after a negotiator said Tehran was suspending all of its commitments that were previously agreed upon with the US in June.
Khamenei also vowed to use Iran’s proxies in the Middle East, which he dubbed the ‘Axis of Resistance,’ to combat Trump’s attacks.
The Supreme Leader’s remarks were read by a spokesman on Iranian state TV as Khamenei has still not been seen in public since the war began, with reports indicating he was severely injured in the strikes that killed his father.
Hours after the US CENTCOM announced the deaths of servicemembers, Israel said it took out a Hezbollah drone unit in southern Lebanon.
The strikes violate last month’s memorandum of understanding aimed at stopping military strikes in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and his wife arrived in Washington DC, on Saturday afternoon for continued negotiations, according to a statement from his office.
Aoun met with Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States Nada Hardini Maalouf, and administrative staff. He will meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump during his visit.
The Israeli military said it identified a Hezbollah terrorist cell operating drones outside the city of Nabatieh, and it ‘struck the terrorists in order to remove the threat posed to the IDF soldiers operating nearby.’
An Iranian missile strike in Jordan killed two soldiers, as one remains missing and four were hospitalized. Pictured above is a missile launched toward US targets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain
Trump said that the deaths of American service members was ‘very sad.’ The identities of the soldiers have yet to be released. Pictured above are American forces enforcing the naval blockade against Iran
Continuous strikes this week have seen the US and Iran exchange attacks on infrastructure and military targets.
The attacks have intensified the conflict’s focus on the Strait of Hormuz, an essential waterway bordering Iran that previously carried over a fifth of the world’s crude oil.
The struggle over the Strait has seen energy prices skyrocket worldwide, with the fresh round of strikes now threatening civilian infrastructure in Iran including desalination plants for drinking water.
CENTCOM said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes hit ‘surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities.’
‘The U.S. has violated its commitments under the deal that was signed about a month ago and now Iran is ‘no longer implementing them,’ Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told state TV.
Amid the recent blitz from US forces against Iran, Tehran’s energy ministry ordered citizens to turn off their air conditioning during peak hours as the country’s power grid came under strain.
The energy ministry said that the power restrictions were necessary ‘to help ensure a stable electricity supply in the southern provinces, which are currently facing extreme heat and attacks on electricity supply facilities.’
Temperatures in the capital were expected to hit triple digits Friday, with highs of 102F on Saturday and Sunday.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.