The US said it had completed an eighth straight night of attacks against Iran after earlier announcing that two US military personnel were killed in Jordan and another was missing following an Iranian attack.
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 (CENTCOM) said in a statement that the airstrikes began at 6pm on Saturday, at President Donald Trump’s direction.
https://t.co/K11184scG0
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 19, 2026
“The strikes are designed 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 last night,” it said.
CENTCOM later said it had completed its wave of attacks, hitting Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defence facilities.
In regards to the deaths of the military personnel, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve”.
Godspeed, heroes.
Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve. https://t.co/GIcfNdAol0
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) July 18, 2026
According to CENTCOM, 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.
Iranian commander warns US of ‘devastating response’ to aggression
The commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters Major-General Ali Abdullahi warned the US, saying that “any aggression or barbarism will be met with a decisive and devastating response” from the Islamic Republic’s armed forces.
According to Al Jazeera, in a statement carried by Iranian state media, Abdullahi described the US as “the Great Satan” as well as “the criminal, treacherous, and deceitful army.”
Commander of Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Major General Abdollahi, warns the American enemy that the Iranian Armed Forces will give a crushing response to any atrocity. pic.twitter.com/WK1YVjLDL7
— PressTV Extra (@PresstvExtra) July 19, 2026
The commander also pledged to strengthen unity between the armed forces, the Iranian public, and officials, vowing to “impose heavier costs” on the US than in previous wars, Al Jazeera reported.
“The enemy, following successive defeats in the military conflict, has taken comfort in creating division and discord between the people and their leaders,” Abdullahi said, as per the Qatari news agency.
The commander added, “Our dear country’s defensive power is a solid foundation for the peace and security of the proud and courageous nation from south to north and from east to west of the glorious and vast Iranian land.”
US attacks Iranian cities as Tehran retaliates
Iran’s Mehr news agency said the US carried out an attack near Sirik in southern Iran, adding that no casualties or damage to infrastructure have been reported.
US fighter jets also struck a location near the city of Shadegan in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, the Tasnim news agency reported, citing the province’s deputy governor for security.
US Missile Strike Hits Area Near Shadegan
The US launched a terror missile attack on a region near Shadegan in Khuzestan province.
The deputy security chief of Khuzestan said operational forces are present in the area and will announce the latest situation and extent of damage. pic.twitter.com/XAYRVktCH8
— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) July 19, 2026
Further, fighter jets carried out a round of attacks on Qeshm Island, Tasnim news agency reported. It added that at least two explosions were heard on the island, and that emergency, security, and operational teams had been deployed to identify the locations hit and assess any damage or casualties, according to Al Jazeera.
The Iranian army then carried out a drone attack that targeted US military assets and equipment at Kuwait’s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem Air Base, Iran’s state TV reported early Sunday, citing a statement from the army.
Both bases were targeted as part of Iran’s attacks against US assets and allies in the Gulf since last week.
Iranian strikes reported in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
Iran appeared to target Saudi Arabia as well as other US Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday after US attacks on Iranian bridges, power facilities and other infrastructure.
In a written statement carried by the official social media accounts of Iran’s supreme leader and Iranian state media, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said US actions have shown that Trump’s signature was “utterly worthless and devoid of credibility”.
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.
— Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (@MKhamenei_ir) July 18, 2026
The statement warned of “even heavier costs and further humiliation” for the US. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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.
— Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (@MKhamenei_ir) July 18, 2026
Khamenei’s whereabouts remain a mystery.
On Saturday, Kuwait also came under sustained attack, with the armed forces saying they had intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, and that some firefighters and oil sector workers had been injured while responding to the attacks.
Iran’s IRGC 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.
Read: Two US service members killed, one missing after Iranian strikes in Jordan
The IRGC also 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 Guards 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. The government media office did not respond to a request for comment.
The IRGC made no mention of any attack on Saudi Arabia.
The US State Department issued a worldwide travel alert for Americans abroad on Saturday, citing heightened tensions in the Middle East “with the potential for unforeseen escalation.” The advisory said flight cancellations and periodic airspace closures could disrupt travel.
Kuwait says intercepting Iranian missiles, drones
The General Staff of the Kuwaiti military said its air defences are “confronting hostile missile and drone attacks” after “sinful Iranian aggression.”
In a post on X, it stated that “any explosions heard are a result of air defense systems intercepting hostile attacks.”
تتصدى حالياً الدفاعات الجوية الكويتية لهجمات صاروخية وطائرات مسيرة معادية ، إثر العدوان الإيراني الاثم.
تنوه رئاسة الأركان العامة للجيش أن أصوات الانفجارات إن سمعت فهي نتيجة اعتراض منظومات الدفاع الجوي للهجمات المعادية.
يرجى من الجميع التقيد بتعليمات الأمن والسلامة الصادرة عن… pic.twitter.com/Q2vXG7EQNM
— KUWAIT ARMY – الجيش الكويتي (@KuwaitArmyGHQ) July 19, 2026
The alert came hours after Iran’s army claimed a large-scale drone attack on an ammunition depot at Camp Buehring, and air defence radar systems at Ali Al Salem Air Base.
Battle for control of the strait
Earlier, US Central Command said it had hit Iranian surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities.
US airstrikes 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.
Iran’s Health Ministry said on Saturday that 50 people had been killed and more than 500 wounded in US strikes on the country over the past three weeks.
Read more: US strikes in Iran hit airport, bridges and railway station
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused the US of seeking control over the Strait of Hormuz, which usually handles around one-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.
The European Union and Gulf states called on Iran to immediately and unconditionally halt all attacks and interference with maritime navigation and to keep the strait open without conditions or fees, according to a joint statement reported by Saudi state TV on Saturday.
US attacking inland ‘to try and isolate Iran’s coast’, says former Pentagon official
David Des Roches, a former Pentagon official, said that the US offensive against Iran had evolved since the first phase of the war, when strikes were “designed to decapitate the leadership and degrade Iran’s ability to launch volleys of ballistic missiles,” Al Jazeera reported.
According to Roches, those strikes meant Iran “hasn’t been able to launch volleys of missiles and overwhelm defences.” He noted, though, that it has “been able to launch individual or maybe two or three missiles at once, which are generally intercepted.”
Also read: Iran renews attacks on Gulf states after another night of US strikes
As per Al Jazeera, the official stated that the the renewed US bombardment – following Iranian attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz – have been “directed against maritime observation, and launching facilities,” such as the towers in Chabahar, “which Iran had been using civilian navigation systems to locate targets.”
In recent days, however, the campaign has pushed further inland, Roches told the Qatari news agency. “We saw the targets extend inland to try to isolate the coast, so that Iran would be unable to reinforce it with missiles, troops, drones,” he said, adding that he expected the next phase to focus on “national leadership, national military facilities and dual-use infrastructure within the Iranian interior.”
Roches warned, though, that air power alone had clear limits as a tool for achieving strategic objectives. “What we find is that it never performs as advertised, or very rarely,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.Latest News, Breaking News & Top News Stories | The Express TribuneReutersRead More