WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: The United States carried out a ninth consecutive night of military strikes on Iran early Monday, targeting military command centres, air defence systems, missile and drone launch sites, coastal surveillance facilities and communications networks, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM).
CENTCOM said the operation, conducted at 02:00 GMT, was aimed at further degrading Iran’s capability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The US military did not disclose the specific locations targeted.
The strikes came after a US service member was killed in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance recovered from a downed Iranian drone, CENTCOM confirmed.
Iran, meanwhile, claimed it launched ballistic missile attacks against US military assets in Jordan, including C-17 transport aircraft and P-8 surveillance planes at Aqaba Airport, and said it destroyed 20 hangars housing US forces at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Azraq. The claims have not been independently verified.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also reported that two oil tankers exploded and were forced to halt in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that the strategic waterway would remain unsafe while US military operations continue.
Separately, Iranian media reported that an American MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down over Kermanshah Province by the IRGC’s air defence units. Iranian sources also said US strikes targeted an area near Khormoj in southwestern Iran.
The US Embassy in Bahrain issued a security alert, warning of possible Iranian attacks on locations in central Manama and urging American citizens to remain vigilant and seek shelter if necessary.
US President Donald Trump defended the continued military campaign, saying the strikes were conducted in honour of American troops killed during the conflict and reaffirming that Washington’s objective is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would only consider negotiations once it had achieved a decisive military advantage, stressing that any decision to end the conflict would depend on developments on the battlefield.