WASHINGTON/CAIRO, July 19 — The United States (US) launched new strikes against Iran, after it earlier announced that two US military personnel were killed in Jordan and another was missing following an Iranian attack.
Before the strikes on Saturday, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Washington would pay for "seeking to escalate the conflict."
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that the airstrikes began at 6pm ET (2200 GMT), at President Donald Trump's direction.
"The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night," it said, without providing further details.
Iran's Mehr news agency said the US carried out an attack near Sirik in southern Iran, adding that no casualties or damage to infrastructure have been reported.
The US and Iran have intensified attacks since an interim ceasefire deal signed a month ago fell apart last week, raising the possibility of a return to all-out war.
CENTCOM said the two deaths occurred on Friday and that a third US service member was missing in action. The announcement brought the number of US service members killed since the war began to 16, while more than 420 have been wounded.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X (formerly Twitter): "Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve."
Iran appeared to target Saudi Arabia as well as other US Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday after US attacks on Iranian bridges, power facilities and other infrastructure.
In a written statement carried by the official social media accounts of Iran's Supreme Leader and Iranian state media, Mojtaba said US actions have shown that Trump's signature was "utterly worthless and devoid of credibility."
The statement warned of "even heavier costs and further humiliation" for the US. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Khamenei's whereabouts remain a mystery.
The conflict, which began when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran at the end of February, hoping to disable its missile programme and its regional proxies, has led to major disruption to energy supplies, fears over global inflation, and a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian strikes reported in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
On Saturday, Kuwait came under sustained attack, with the armed forces saying they had intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, and that some firefighters and oil sector workers had been injured while responding to the attacks.
The IRGC said it had struck a US military support centre at Kuwait's Camp Arifjan and destroyed a radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation later said one of its oil facilities had been hit in "repeated Iranian attacks", causing significant damage and some injuries, according to the state news agency.
Iranian media reported that the IRGC also targeted a site in Bahrain where US combat aircraft were gathered at Sheikh Isa Air Base and an intelligence data centre.
Similarly, Iranian state TV reported that it destroyed at least two US fighter aircraft and three other aircraft during a missile and drone attack early on Saturday on the US base in Al Azraq, Jordan.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Saudi Arabia's early warning system issued alerts early on Saturday, urging residents of Al-Kharj and Yanbu to seek shelter. Al-Kharj, east of Riyadh, is home to a military base that hosts US troops, while Yanbu, on the Red Sea, has a key oil export terminal.
Two people briefed on the matter said an Iranian missile attack, the first on Saudi Arabia in more than three months, had triggered the alerts. The government media office did not respond to a request for comment.
The IRGC made no mention of any attack on Saudi Arabia.
The US State Department issued a worldwide travel alert for Americans abroad on Saturday, citing heightened tensions in the Middle East "with the potential for unforeseen escalation." The advisory said flight cancellations and periodic airspace closures could disrupt travel.
Battle for control of the Strait
Earlier, CENTCOM said it had hit Iranian surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities.
Iranian state TV reported that US airstrikes early on Saturday killed three people and wounded eight others in the southern Hormozgan province, which borders the Strait of Hormuz, while two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged.
On Saturday, the Iranian Health Ministry said that 50 people had been killed and more than 500 wounded in US strikes on the country over the past three weeks.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused the US of seeking control over the Strait of Hormuz, which usually handles around one-fifth of the world's oil supply.
Both sides have taken aim at shipping traffic, with the US saying it is enforcing a naval blockade and Iran saying it targets vessels violating its rules on navigating the strait.
A joint statement reported by Saudi state TV on Saturday saw the European Union and Gulf states calling on Tehran to immediately and unconditionally halt all attacks and interference with maritime navigation and to keep the Strait open without conditions or fees.
