President Donald Trump says the latest strikes by the US hit Iran “very hard”, adding that the attacks were “in honour” of three US soldiers killed in recent days – two in Jordan, one in Iraq.<\/p>\n
In the early hours of Monday local time, US Central Command (Centcom) said it had launched a “new wave” of strikes for the ninth consecutive night as explosions were heard across Iran.<\/p>\n
The US said it had targeted military sites and communications networks to “further diminish” Tehran’s attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Iran said it had responded with a “surprise attack” in Syria and targeted US aircraft at Jordan’s Aqaba airport.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait’s armed forces said they had intercepted Iranian drones.<\/p>\n
On the US strikes, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several cities had been hit including Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini.<\/p>\n
There were also Iranian state media reports that two oil tankers had exploded as the vessels tried to cross the strait.<\/p>\n
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the tankers were going through what it called an “unsafe and hazardous southern route” of the strait and “exploded and were brought to a halt”. Centcom disputed the claims.<\/p>\n
The IRGC added that the strait “will not be safe for the transit of petrochemical products, nor even a single drop of oil and gas” as long as the US strikes continue and that it will respond with a “punitive operation”.<\/p>\n
Over the weekend, the US confirmed that a service member had been killed<\/a> after an Iranian attack in northern Iraq on Saturday.<\/p>\n