U.S. Bombs Iran for Ninth Straight Night as Oil Tops $90 and American Death Toll Climbs
A service member killed in Iraq brings U.S. military deaths in the conflict to 17 as diplomatic efforts to end the war collapse
The U.S. military carried out its ninth consecutive night of strikes on Iran early Monday, expanding a bombing campaign that has now cost 17 American service members' lives and pushed global oil prices to their highest level since June, according to Al Jazeera, CNBC and The Guardian.
CENTCOM said the new wave of strikes began at 7 p.m. ET Saturday, hours after the Pentagon announced that a U.S. service member had been killed in northern Iraq during the "controlled detonation" of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian attack drone, The Hill and Al Jazeera reported. It was the third American death in recent days and the 17th since the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran began, according to Al Jazeera.
President Trump said the latest strikes were carried out "in honour" of the killed troops, Al Jazeera reported. Iranian state media reported blasts in cities including Tabriz in the north and Chabahar in the south, Al Jazeera said.
The escalation has rattled energy markets. Brent crude climbed above $90 a barrel Monday, its highest level since June, as a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz — a vital corridor for global oil shipments — showed no sign of easing, according to The Guardian and CNBC. A preliminary deal aimed at ending the war collapsed as Washington and Tehran remained deadlocked over the strait, The Guardian reported.
The State Department on Saturday issued a warning to Americans living and traveling abroad, citing "heightened tensions in the Middle East" and warning that "the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation," according to The Hill.
The Pentagon has said the strikes are intended to keep degrading Iran's capacity to disrupt shipping through the strait, CNBC reported, though there was no indication Monday of when the nightly bombing campaign might end.
— Compiled from wire reports from Al Jazeera, CNBC, The Guardian and The Hill.