US strikes Iran near Strait of Hormuz after deadly attack on troops in Jordan

The US launched fresh airstrikes near Sirik in Iran after two American service members were killed in Jordan. The retaliation widened a regional crisis reaching Iraq and Kuwait while raising fresh risks to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

In Short

• US Central Command said the strikes targeted Iran's military and shipping pressure
• Iranian authorities reported blasts near Sirik on Hormozgan province's strategic coastline
• A drone and missile assault in Jordan killed two US personnel

The US military said on Sunday it had launched fresh airstrikes on Iran after an attack in Jordan killed two American service members, left one missing and sent four to hospital. US Central Command said the strikes were meant to "swiftly punish" Iran's Revolutionary Guard and further reduce Iran's ability to restrict the movement of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, quoting local authorities in southern Hormozgan province, said an area near Sirik on the Strait of Hormuz was hit at about 1.30 am local time. The strikes came as tensions widened across the region, with reported drone attacks in Iraq, fresh warnings from Iran and damage to civilian and energy infrastructure in Kuwait.

The latest US action followed what the military described as its first troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war, after a drone and missile attack on a base in Jordan on Friday. The two dead service members were not identified, and Central Command did not give further details. Since the war began, 16 US service members have been killed and more than 430 wounded.

In neighbouring Iraq, a base of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, an Iranian Kurdish dissident group, near Irbil was hit by a drone early on Sunday, wounding eight of its members, according to the group's military official Rebaz Sharifi. Residents of Irbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, also heard explosions from air defence systems. Irbil has been targeted by drone attacks several times over the past four days, which coincided with new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's visit to Washington last week and the continuing escalation between the US and Iran. No group claimed responsibility, but Iran and Iran-backed Iraqi militias have previously carried out attacks in the Kurdish region, where US troops and armed Kurdish Iranian dissident groups are present.

Minutes before the US announced the troop deaths on Saturday, Iran's supreme leader warned of "unforgettable lessons" if the US kept attacking the Islamic Republic. The remarks, read out on state television and attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen since the war began, also described President Donald Trump's signature as "worthless and invalid". An Iranian negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments under the interim deal signed about a month ago and aimed at permanently ending the fighting.

Iran also said the warning covered not only action from Tehran but from its regional armed proxies, which it called the "Axis of Resistance". The US issued a global travel alert as tensions rose further. The fighting has centred on control of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that accounted for about 20 per cent of global oil supplies before the war. As the strikes spread, civilians and infrastructure, including desalination plants for drinking water, have also come under threat. Iran's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state television that the US had violated its commitments under the deal and Iran was "no longer implementing them". There was no new word on mediation efforts.

The previous recorded death of a US service member was that of a helicopter pilot who crashed in the Arabian Sea earlier this month. In the early days of the war, an Iranian drone strike on a command centre in Kuwait killed six soldiers. One soldier died after an attack on a base in Saudi Arabia, while six were killed when a refuelling aircraft crashed in Iraq.

On Saturday, the most serious damage from Iranian strikes was reported in Kuwait, where a water desalination plant and an oil facility were hit, according to Kuwaiti authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Neither gave the locations. It was the second strike on a desalination plant in two days in the desert nation, which depends on desalination for 90 per cent of its drinking water. The attacks injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline. The Kuwait Fire Force said several firefighters and a worker were hurt while battling two other blazes sparked by Iranian strikes. Kuwait also briefly closed its airspace because of missile threats, and Kuwait Airways said it was rescheduling most flights to and from the capital.

Iraq said it shot down attack drones over Irbil. Jordan's state-run Petra news agency said the country's air defence systems had brought down Iranian missiles. Air raid sirens also sounded several times in Bahrain through the day and in Saudi Arabia in the morning, according to their governments. Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, secretary general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, accused Iran of war crimes over strikes on infrastructure and civilian facilities.

The latest US strikes near Sirik followed the deadly attack on American troops in Jordan and unfolded alongside a wider regional escalation involving Iraq, Kuwait and Gulf states. Iran, meanwhile, hardened its position on the interim deal and repeated fresh warnings as the conflict continued.

With PTI Inputs

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