• New strikes:The US military says it has launched a round of airstrikes against Iran to “swiftly punish” it for killing two American service members in an attack in Jordan, the eighth night in a row of US strikes against Iran. Explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm Island, an Iranian state-run news agency reported
• US casualties:The deaths were the first US military fatalities caused by Iranian fire since March. Another service member is missing in action after the attack
• Ceasefire in tatters:Tehran says it is suspending its commitments to the initial agreement reached with Washington last month, and Iran’s supreme leader derided US President Donald Trump’s signature as “worthless” in a new statement. After a week of renewed bombing, the Trump administration has offered little clarity on the path forward for its military campaign
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Iran’s deadly attack on a base used by the US military in Jordan shows Tehran has not given up on the use of long-range strikes, a CNN analyst said Sunday
“With the attack on the Al-Azraq air base in Jordan, where the two service members were killed, and we have one missing, that indicates that the Iranians are still willing to use longer-range weapon systems,” said retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton
Meanwhile, he said, the US military has been stepping up strikes against the western part of Iran, from where long-range missiles could be fired
“The rhythm of war that we talked about has definitely picked up during these last few days,” Leighton said, also alluding to the generally intensified exchanges of fire
US Central Command said it completed its latest round of strikes against Iran at 11:30 p.m. Eastern time, targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces behind the attacks that killed two US service members in Jordan
Other military facilities were also hit
“CENTCOM forces successfully hit Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities,” it said in a post on X. It did not say how many targets had been hit
This marks the eighth consecutive night of US strikes on Iran
A heavily-damaged bridge which was hit by a US strike is pictured along the road connecting Roudan and Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on Saturday.
In the week after the US renewed daily strikes on Iran and reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports, the Trump administration offered little clarity on how long the latest military campaign may last and its objective after a fragile truce was ruptured
Behind the scenes, President Donald Trump has been presented options for expanding the operation further as the military seeks ways to intensify efforts to loosen Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz. But Iran has shown no willingness to cede control of the critical waterway
In public comments, Trump has signaled he intends to escalate the strikes, including threats on civilian infrastructure and potentially energy targets as he has downplayed the length of the hostilities. “We were in Vietnam for 19 years. We’re here for four months, so I think we’ve done a lot,” the president told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins this week
Trump on Tuesday told Fox News the strikes would “continue until I say it’s enough,” and in a primetime speech on Thursday in which Trump barely mentioned Iran, the president said, “you will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly.”
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance — the administration’s lead negotiator with Iran — has suggested that military force alone won’t be enough to fully dismantle Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz
“You can bomb them, you can take away their radar, you can take away some of their drones and some of their missiles, but it’s just too easy to fire at ships in the straits,” he said in a podcast interview on Tuesday. “So, you’ve got to actually be willing to talk and to try to figure out the problem.”
Ryan Crocker, a former US ambassador to several Middle East countries, echoed the vice president’s sentiment, telling CNN’s Elex Michaelson Saturday that bombing Iran “into submission” will not work
Two US service members were killed and one is missing in action, US Central Command announced Saturday, marking the first American military fatalities from Iranian fire since March
Four additional American service members were medically evacuated to hospitals in Jordan but have since been discharged Other personnel sustained minor injuries and have returned to duty
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a statement earlier Saturday, claimed responsibility for strikes on a base used by US forces in Al-Azraq, Jordan. The IRGC claimed it had “completely” destroyed several aircraft in the attack, which it said was conducted with missiles and drones.
- CENTCOM said it will withhold the identities of the fallen soldiers until 24 hours after their next of kin are notified.
- The deaths bring the number of US service members who have died in the nearly five-month conflict to 16, according to the US military’s defense casualty analysis system.
- In comments to NewsNation on Saturday, President Donald Trump said of the fallen service members: “We hate to see it happen. It’s in service to our country.”
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged the news in a post on X, writing: “Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”
