Iran Retaliates as US Completes Ninth Night of Strikes

The U.S. military announced on Monday that it had completed its ninth consecutive night of air strikes targeting Iranian military infrastructure and strategic assets.

On X, U.S. Central Command stated that the strikes hit Iranian command centres, air‑defence and coastal surveillance installations, maritime assets, missile and drone launch sites, as well as communication networks.

The latest operation followed Washington’s announcement that three U.S. service members had been killed.

Two were killed in an Iranian strike on a U.S. base in Jordan, and another service member died in Iraq on Saturday when a downed Iranian drone detonated in a controlled explosion.

‘We’ll see what happens, but we struck them very hard again tonight,’ President Donald Trump told reporters after returning to Washington from the World Cup final, noting the attacks were ‘in tribute’ to the ‘three great patriots.’

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced on Monday that it had carried out a ‘surprise attack’ on an enemy command centre in Syria, according to state media.

Kuwait’s army said it was responding to an Iranian attack, stating that any explosions resulted from air‑defence systems intercepting hostile threats, in an X post.

A day earlier, Iran claimed it had targeted two U.S. bases in Kuwait.

Bahrain activated missile‑alert sirens on Monday morning, warning of an incoming Iranian strike, and said any explosions resulted from air‑defence systems intercepting hostile attacks, per an X statement.

Rubio says Iran using Hormuz as leverage

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that Iran is exploiting the Strait of Hormuz to exert leverage and called on other nations to increase pressure and share the burden of safeguarding global shipping.

‘It is clear that some elements within Iran seek to control the straits and use them as leverage against the world,’ Rubio told reporters ahead of traveling to the Philippines for an ASEAN foreign‑ministers meeting.

Traffic through the strait has largely stalled again amid intensified fighting, pushing Brent crude above $90 per barrel on Monday. The renewed hostilities erupted despite an interim ceasefire following Iran’s attacks on ships transiting the strategic waterway.

‘The United States will continue to take whatever actions are necessary to protect global shipping, but other countries must step up and provide, whether through hardware or financing, to share that burden,’ Rubio added.

The Secretary of State reiterated that Washington remains open to diplomacy, but emphasized that any agreement must be ‘real’ and one that Iran is ‘willing to live by.’

‘They cannot maintain an MOU that is alive if they are violating its terms,’ Rubio said. ‘The United States always remains open to a diplomatic solution. We have tried multiple times with Iran and will continue to do so.’

On Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned of ‘unforgettable lessons’ if the United States continued its attacks on the Islamic Republic, as reported on state television.

In a statement read on state TV, Khamenei — who has not been seen publicly since the war began — called U.S. President Donald Trump’s signature on the interim ceasefire deal ‘worthless and invalid.’

His remarks came hours after a negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the agreement.

In the past week, Trump threatened to target power stations and bridges to compel Iran to loosen its hold, while Washington has also reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt its crude‑oil shipments.

U.S. airstrikes on Saturday hit an electricity and desalination plant in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, according to Iranian state television.

IRNA reported that the Bonji desalination plant was destroyed, cutting off water supplies to about 10,000 people, and that a desalination plant on the strategic Qeshm Island within the strait was damaged.

It also reported that three bridges were struck on Saturday, including one on a route to Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port near the strait’s narrowest point.

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