The United States launched its ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iranian targets overnight Sunday, aiming to degrade the country’s military capabilities threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. According to reports from Iran and the U.S. military, the strikes hit command centers, air defense systems, coastal surveillance posts, and missile and drone launch sites across multiple locations in Iran, including the western city of Tabriz and the port of Mahshahr.
2+President Donald Trump addressed the strikes overnight in an interview with Fox News, declaring: “We hit Iran very hard tonight, and we did it in honor of three great patriots.” Trump emphasized that Iran has been severely damaged: “They’ve lost almost everything militarily. They have very little left. They have some missiles, some drones, and a little production capability, not much. We control the strait, they don’t control anything.”
Referring to the American soldiers killed in recent days, the president said: “We feel very bad, but these great people, these great patriots, are out there fighting so that Iran won’t have nuclear weapons.” Meanwhile, the U.S. military reported that a third body was found overnight at the site where Iranian missiles struck in Jordan, and identification procedures have begun. This follows two American soldiers killed over the weekend in Jordan and Iraq. According to U.S. military reports, the number of American deaths since the start of the war with Iran now stands at 16.
2+The Revolutionary Guards, meanwhile, claimed they struck American military aircraft stationed at Aqaba Airport in Jordan using ballistic missiles. According to their statement, U.S. heavy transport aircraft and command and control planes sustained “heavy damage.” Additionally, Iran claimed to have attacked two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, while Britain’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported a vessel on fire in the area.
2+Shortly before the American strike, sirens sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait. The U.S. Embassy in Bahrain warned its citizens of the possibility of an Iranian attack in the capital Manama and urged them to “remain vigilant.” In Israel, the security establishment assesses that there is currently no expectation of immediate Iranian fire toward the country, but readiness remains high. At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that America is “still open to a diplomatic solution with Iran.”