The US military struck Iranian targets last night for an eighth consecutive night, hours after U.S. Central Command said the Islamic Republic had killed two US service members in Jordan the previous day.
Iranian coastal surveillance and air defence facilities, maritime capabilities and missile and drone storage sites were among the targets struck, according to the American Cenral Command. Also struck were Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces involved in Friday’s missile and drone attack that killed American troops in Jordan.
The wave of strikes lasted approximately five-and-a-half hours, according to the statement.
“More than 50,000 U.S. men and women in uniform are operating across the Middle East. They remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal and ready,” said the Central Command (Centcom)
In an earlier statement on Saturday, Centcom said the latest wave of strikes was launched to “swiftly punish” IRGC forces responsible for the attack on the U.S. base in Jordan.
The command said two service members were killed in action in Jordan while US and partner forces “defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.” One service member remained missing in action, it said.
Four other US service members were evacuated to local hospitals and have since been discharged, while personnel treated for minor injuries have returned to duty, the command added.
Tehran on Saturday continued its attacks on US military assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq, the state-controlled Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) outlet reported.
Kuwait’s military said its air defences intercepted at least four waves of Iranian missiles and drones.
The Bahrain Defence Force said it also “intercepted and destroyed a number of treacherous Iranian aerial attacks” on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a Jordanian military source told the state-run Petra News Agency that military aircraft shot down at least four Iranian suicide drones.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the reported attack on Iraqi territory, which IRIB said targeted Sulaymaniyah Province in the country’s Kurdistan region.
In a separate statement on Saturday, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that the United States could no longer maintain what he described as a “trouble-free, domineering presence” in the Middle East.
“The Great Satan – the criminal US – has now realised that the continuation of its trouble-free, domineering presence in the region is nothing but a naive fantacy [sic],” Khamenei, who was chosen in March to succeed his slain father as supreme leader, wrote in a message to the Iraqi people.
Referring to what he described as tens of millions of mourners in Iran and Iraq attending his father’s funeral, Khamenei said it had “opened a new chapter of awakening and active engagement to alter the equations that had been designed by the Arrogant Powers.
“Undoubtedly, the leaders of Global Arrogance witnessed the magnificent scenes of this massive gathering in Iraq with trepidation, seeing how the vast resources they’ve invested to undermine relations between the two nations have proved entirely futile and ineffective,” he added.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.