Trump launches retaliatory strikes after Iran kills two US troops in Jordan

Washington: The United States is launching fresh strikes against Iran after two American troops were killed by an Iranian attack on an air base in Jordan, representing another escalation in a war that is again engulfing the Middle East.

The strikes began at 8am on Sunday (AEST) at President Donald Trump’s direction, Central Command (Centcom) said. They were designed to “swiftly punish” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for its attack, as well as to continue degrading Iran’s ability to threaten shipping.

The US State Department also issued a worldwide travel caution, advising Americans everywhere – especially in the Middle East – of possible flight cancellations and airspace closures, and targeted attacks on US interests by Iran and its supporters.

It came as Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a new statement condemning the United States as “the Great Satan” and warning the Islamic regime had “unforgettable lessons in store” for its American enemy.

The two troops were killed in Jordan on Friday as the US and its partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks, Centcom said. Another service member is missing, while four others were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals and later discharged.

The dead were not publicly identified. Since the war began at the end of February, 16 American service members have been killed and more than 430 wounded.

Trump told News Nation the deaths were “very sad” but came in service to their country. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X: “Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”

A ceasefire was declared in mid-June when the US and Iran signed a memo that began a 60-day peace negotiation process. But after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired at ships in the Strait of Hormuz nearly a fortnight ago, the fighting has resumed, and the talks have collapsed.

US forces completed a seventh consecutive night of strikes on Friday evening (Washington time), targeting surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities. They have also recommenced a blockade of ships accessing Iranian ports.

Trump has also weighed escalating the conflict, publicly stating that he was considering attacks on Pickaxe Mountain, a key Iranian nuclear site, or a US takeover of Kharg Island, a major oil terminal. Centcom said 50,000 American troops were in the region and “remain vigilant, lethal, and ready”.

The announcement of additional American deaths came just as Iran’s supreme leader – who has not been seen since the war began – issued a new statement that was read out on state television and posted in English on his X account.

“The repeated breaches of the agreement by the Great Satan [the US] regarding the MOU signed by the Presidents of Iran and the US have once again laid bare a fundamental truth: the signature of the US President is utterly worthless and devoid of credibility,” Khamenei said.

“Now that the American enemy is seeking to escalate the conflict, thereby incurring even heavier costs and further humiliation, it should know that the noble nation of Iran and the Resistance Front have unforgettable lessons in store for it.”

The comments came hours after a negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim deal signed about a month ago.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told state TV that the US has violated its commitments under the deal that was signed about a month ago and now Iran is “no longer implementing them”. Trump has also declared the ceasefire agreement “over”.

Video circulating online purported to show an Iranian missile striking Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, where US forces have based warplanes used in its attacks against Iran. The same base was attacked earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.

Significant damage from the latest Iranian strikes also occurred in Kuwait, where a water desalination plant and an oil facility were hit, according to the Kuwait authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Both declined to provide locations.

The strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline. It was the second attack against a desalination plant in two days in the tiny desert nation that depends on desalination for 90 per cent of its drinking water.

Meanwhile, Iraq said it shot down attack drones over the city of Irbil. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said the kingdom’s air defence systems had downed Iranian missiles, while air sirens sounded multiple times in Bahrain throughout the day and in Saudi Arabia in the morning, according to their governments.

Iran’s renewed attacks on its Gulf neighbours, including domestic infrastructure, is a return to a hallmark of the conflict’s early stages, whereby the Islamic regime targeted America’s partners in the region following US strikes.

Saudi Arabia strongly condemned Iran’s latest attacks as “violations of international law and the principles of good neighbourliness”, offered its full support for any retaliatory efforts by the countries that were hit.

The secretary general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, accused Iran of war crimes for strikes on infrastructure and civilian facilities.

Meanwhile, US airstrikes hit an electricity and desalination plant in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, Iranian state TV reported. IRNA said the Bonji desalination plant was destroyed, cutting off water supplies to about 10,000 people, and that a desalination plant on strategic Qeshm Island inside the strait was damaged.

Overnight strikes damaged two tunnels and a bridge, disrupting one of the main highways toward Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port that sits near the narrowest part of the strait, according to Iran’s state-run news agency. IRNA said three bridges were hit Saturday, including one on a route to Bandar Abbas.

With AP