DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States reported the death of another service member Sunday as it carried out a fresh round of airstrikes against Iran following the killing of American troops. At the same time, Iran launched missiles toward Jordan, raising new fears that the confrontation could spill further into the region and draw neighboring Israel closer to the fighting.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
The U.S.-Iran conflict has edged closer to a full-scale war in recent days, unraveling an interim agreement reached last month that had been intended to bring the fighting to a lasting end. With traffic through the Strait of Hormuz now largely frozen, both Washington and Tehran have increasingly struck civilian infrastructure that millions depend on for daily life.
According to the U.S. military, the latest American fatality occurred Saturday in Iraq during the “controlled detonation” of an Iranian drone that had been brought down.
U.S. officials earlier said the new strikes were aimed at Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for Friday’s deadly attack on American troops in Jordan. One service member had remained missing after that assault, and the military said in an updated statement that “unidentified remains” were recovered Sunday and were undergoing examination. Since the war began, 17 U.S. service members have died.
The latest wave of attacks, now stretching into a second week, has included U.S. strikes on bridges, desalination plants and power facilities inside Iran. Tehran, meanwhile, has continued targeting countries across the Middle East that are aligned with the United States.
Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain once again switched on air defense systems to intercept incoming Iranian drones and missiles. Israel also cautioned that missiles fired toward Jordan could send the conflict across its border for the first time in weeks.
Iran says a nuclear site under construction was hit
U.S. Central Command said its forces struck “Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities and missile and drone storage sites.” The command said the operation was meant to weaken Iran’s ability to control the Strait of Hormuz and to “swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces,” the powerful arm of Iran’s theocratic system that oversees the country’s ballistic missile program.
Footage released by the U.S. military appeared to show strikes carried out by fighter jets and by Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from the sea. One target site appeared to be in a valley of a mountainous region. The Guard often has missile bases and other military equipment tucked into mountain ranges.
Iran’s atomic energy agency said U.S. strikes targeted the construction site of a planned nuclear power plant in the southwest, state television reported.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC of the Darkhovin nuclear plant site showed earth clearing but little construction as of July 9. Iran did not previously announce it as being targeted.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the site, in the “very early stages of construction,” contained no nuclear material when the U.N. watchdog last visited.
Jordan and nearly every Gulf Arab state have been targeted
Jordan’s military said it shot down several Iranian missiles. The country hosts major U.S. bases and relies on U.S. air-defense systems. The missiles did not cause casualties or damage, according to Jordan’s military.
Jordan later summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires to protest, state-run television reported.
Israel’s military said Iranian missiles launched toward the Jordanian port city of Aqaba just across the border could spill over, warning Israelis to expect the first air-raid sirens in weeks.
Eilat, the Israeli city that neighbors Aqaba, cited security officials as saying two interceptors were launched from its outskirts to prevent the fall of debris.
During the latest fighting, Iran has focused attacks on U.S.-allied Arab states rather than Israel, which launched the war with the U.S. on Feb. 28. “We are prepared to immediately resume combat,” the Israeli military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said.
Kuwait said one of its power and water desalination plants was attacked for the second time in two days, causing fires. Its Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said the power grid remains stable. In Kuwait, about 90% of drinking water comes from desalination.
The secretary-general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, has accused Iran of war crimes for strikes on infrastructure and civilian facilities.
International humanitarian law generally protects civilian infrastructure such as bridges and power plants from attack, but such sites can lose protections if used for military purposes. In such cases, attacks must be proportionate and minimize civilian harm.
The Strait of Hormuz remains key to the conflict
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to target Iran’s power stations and bridges to try to compel Tehran to loosen its hold on the Strait of Hormuz, which saw one-fifth of global oil supplies transit before the war. Recent attacks suggest the U.S. military is carrying out that plan.
The U.S. in the past week reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt its shipments of crude oil. The military on Saturday said it had redirected five ships and disabled one since then.
A maritime organization overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday that the threat to mariners is severe after previous Iranian attacks, “with deliberate hostile action considered highly likely.” It said traffic remained low, with eight transits on Saturday and three on Friday. The daily average before the war was almost 140.
Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in a statement Saturday, warned of “unforgettable lessons” if the U.S. keeps attacking the Islamic Republic. An Iranian negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim deal and accused the U.S. of violating it.
The halfway point has passed in the 60 days the deal set out to negotiate the permanent end of the war and other issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian authorities on Sunday said at least 50 people have been killed and 517 wounded in the latest U.S. strikes. Iran has provided no overall information on its materiel losses.
Far from the region, the war’s effects on the prices of fuel and other goods have hit some of the world’s most vulnerable areas hard.
Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and Finley from Washington. Associated Press writer Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed.
