The United States military has initiated a fresh wave of airstrikes against Iran, acting under the direction of President Donald Trump. The operation, which commenced at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, follows a series of lethal attacks against American personnel in Jordan.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that at 6 p.m. ET, US forces began launching new airstrikes against Iran at the Commander in Chief's direction. This followed the death of two American service members in action on July 17 while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. A third service member remains missing. In the same incident, four other personnel were medically evacuated to hospitals in Jordan; however, they have since been discharged. Other troops who sustained minor injuries have been cleared to return to duty.
According to the official statement from CENTCOM, the new strikes are intended to punish the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the assault on US forces and to degrade Iran's capacity to threaten commercial shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz. The military command noted that it would withhold the identities of the fallen service members until 24 hours after their next of kin have been properly notified.
President Donald Trump addressed the losses in an interview with NewsNation, describing the deaths as a "very sad thing." He added, "We hate to see it happen. It's in service to our country."
