The United States launched further airstrikes against Iran after confirming that at least two American military personnel were killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan, while regional allies reported further Iranian strikes on Sunday.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had launched a new wave of strikes against Iran for the ninth consecutive night, with the operation aimed at further degrading Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military also confirmed a third fatality in recent days, saying a service member was killed on Saturday in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance recovered from a downed Iranian attack drone near a U.S. military base.
The latest escalation comes as the interim ceasefire agreement reached a month ago continues to unravel, with both Washington and Tehran stepping up military operations.
The renewed conflict has intensified the struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy shipping route, raising fears of a return to full-scale hostilities.
Israeli officials said the country was preparing to receive additional U.S. aerial refuelling aircraft following the latest escalation, amid expectations Washington could further expand its military campaign against Iran.
U.S. CENTCOM said a wave of strikes, which began at 6 pm EDT (2200 GMT) on Saturday, was intended "to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan".
Later, Central Command confirmed the operation had concluded, with strikes targeting Iranian military coastal surveillance systems and air defence facilities.
The conflict began on 28 February when the United States and Israel launched coordinated attacks aimed at crippling Iran's nuclear and missile programmes while weakening its regional proxy forces.
Since then, the fighting has claimed thousands of lives, primarily in Iran and Lebanon, severely disrupted global energy supplies and renewed concerns over inflationary pressures worldwide.
