'Hit Them Very Hard Again...': US Launches More Airstrikes Against Iran After Announcing Another Death of Service Member

Dubai: The United States began a new round of airstrikes early Monday targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member, and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighboring Israel.

Step by step, the U.S. and Iran have inched closer to all-out war as last month’s interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.

The U.S. military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone. “We hit them very hard again tonight,” U.S. President Donald Trump said. “And we did that in honor of the” slain soldiers.

Ninth night of Iran strikes

Earlier, the military said its strikes targeted Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to retaliate for Friday’s killing of troops in Jordan. One service member was missing after that attack, and the military’s new statement said “unidentified remains” were found Sunday and were being examined. Since the war began, 17 U.S. service members have been killed.

The renewed exchanges of fire, now in their second week, have seen the U.S. target bridges and electrical facilities in Iran.

The U.S. military’s Central Command announced a new round of strikes early Monday, now into their ninth straight night.

“The strikes will continue degrading Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” Central Command said in a statement.

As the strikes began, a ship caught fire early Monday 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 U.S. military has encouraged ships to travel to avoid Iran’s control.

Tehran has retaliated by hitting U.S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East.

Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait again activated air defenses for incoming Iranian drones and missiles. Early Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain issued a warning saying “Iran may seek to target unspecified locations in central Manama,” the capital, without elaborating.

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

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