US says two military personnel killed in Jordan
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WASHINGTON: The US military said on Saturday (Jul 18) that two of its personnel were killed in Jordan and another was missing after an Iranian attack, while Iran’s supreme leader said Washington would pay for “seeking to incite war” after a seventh straight night of US strikes.
The US and Iran have intensified attacks since an interim ceasefire deal signed a month ago fell apart last week, raising the possibility of a return to all-out war.
US Central Command said the two deaths occurred on Friday and that a third US service member was missing in action. The announcement brought the number of US service members killed since the war began to 16, while more than 420 have been wounded.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”
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Iran, responding to US attacks on bridges, power facilities and other infrastructure, appeared to target Saudi Arabia as well as other US Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday.
In a written statement carried by the official social media accounts of Iran’s supreme leader and Iranian state media, Mojtaba Khamenei said repeated US breaches of the interim deal had shown that US President Donald Trump’s signature was “utterly worthless and devoid of credibility.”
“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 statement said. Khamenei’s whereabouts remain unknown.
The conflict, which began when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran at the end of February hoping to disable its missile programme and its regional proxies, has led to major disruption to energy supplies, fears over global inflation and a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
IRANIAN STRIKES REPORTED IN BAHRAIN, JORDAN, SAUDI ARABIA
On Saturday, Kuwait came under sustained attack, with the armed forces saying they had intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, and that a number of firefighters and oil sector workers had been injured while responding to the attacks.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck a US military support centre at Kuwait’s Camp Arifjan and destroyed a radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation later said one of its oil facilities had been hit in “repeated Iranian attacks”, causing significant damage and some injuries, according to the state news agency.
As well as hitting Kuwait, the Guard targeted a site in Bahrain where US combat aircraft were gathered at Sheikh Isa Air Base and an intelligence data centre, Iranian media said.
The Guard also destroyed at least two US fighter aircraft and three other aircraft during a missile and drone attack early on Saturday on the US base in Al Azraq, Jordan, according to Iranian state TV. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Saudi Arabia’s early warning system issued alerts early on Saturday urging residents of Al-Kharj and Yanbu to seek shelter. Al-Kharj, east of Riyadh, is home to a military base that hosts US troops, while Yanbu, on the Red Sea, has a key oil export terminal.
Two people briefed on the matter said an Iranian missile attack, the first on Saudi Arabia in more than three months, had triggered the alerts. Saudi state media did not say what had prompted the alerts, and the government media office did not respond to a request for comment.
The Guard made no mention of any attack on Saudi Arabia.
BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF THE STRAIT
Earlier, US Central Command said it had completed its seventh consecutive day of strikes by hitting Iranian surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities.
US air strikes early on Saturday killed three people and wounded eight others in the southern Hormozgan province, which borders the Strait of Hormuz, while two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged, Iranian state TV reported.
The US carried out further air strikes in the same province on Saturday afternoon, the semi-official Fars news agency said, quoting provincial authorities, but there were no reports of civilian casualties.
Iran’s health ministry said on Saturday that 50 people had been killed and more than 500 injured in US strikes on the country over the past three weeks.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused the US of seeking control over the Strait of Hormuz, which usually handles about a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
Both sides have taken aim at shipping traffic, with the US saying it is enforcing a naval blockade and Iran saying it targets vessels violating its rules on navigating the Strait of Hormuz.
A merchant vessel and military forces were involved in an incident off Oman, the United Kingdom’s Maritime Trade Operations said in a note, without giving further details.
Oil prices rose more than 4 per cent on Friday to their highest level in more than a month, adding to political pressure on Mr Trump as his Republican Party tries to hold on to power in November’s congressional elections.
Source: Reuters/fs
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