US Strikes Iran for 10th Straight Night as Tehran Hits Back Across Region
Pentagon says nearly 100 troops hurt in two weeks of fighting; Iran attacks tanker in Strait of Hormuz as Houthis announce Red Sea blockade
The United States carried out a tenth consecutive night of airstrikes on Iran early Tuesday, and Tehran responded with a wave of reprisals across the Middle East, deepening a war that has already killed American troops and disrupted global shipping lanes.
The Pentagon said nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured over the past two weeks of escalating strikes. Two soldiers killed in an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Jordan over the weekend were identified as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, the Pentagon said. President Trump said Iran would pay "many times over" for the deaths.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for an attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz that forced its crew to abandon ship, along with two other attacks on vessels in the waterway. Tehran also said it struck military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, including air-defense systems and a radar installation. Iranian state media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Tabriz, Bushehr — home to the country's only operating civilian nuclear plant — Qeshm Island, Chabahar and Konarak.
U.S. Central Command said its strikes were intended to "degrade" Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping and targeted military command centers and missile and drone launch sites, according to footage released by CENTCOM.
The conflict widened further when Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis announced an immediate maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, after the two sides exchanged fire last week for the first time in years. Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slumped since fighting resumed, and oil prices have stayed elevated near a month-high, pushing the U.S. average price of gasoline back up to roughly $4 a gallon, according to AAA.
Democrats in Congress have seized on the rising American casualties to press Trump to reverse course, while the White House said the dignified transfer of the fallen service members' remains has been postponed, with a new date still being finalized.
— Compiled from reporting by the Guardian, CBS News, NBC News, Al Jazeera and CNBC.