DUBAI/CAIRO – United States forces launched a ninth consecutive day of strikes against Iran on Monday, as Tehran claimed responsibility for attacks on American bases across the region and warned that the strategic Strait of Hormuz was no longer safe for energy transit after two oil tankers were reportedly immobilized by explosions.
The intensifying cycle of violence has unraveled a month-old interim ceasefire, deepening a struggle for control over the vital waterway. The disruption has roiled energy markets, stoking fears of global inflation as oil prices surged past $90 a barrel.
IRGC Claims Strikes on US Assets
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted US aircraft at Jordan’s Aqaba airport with ballistic missiles. The force also claimed to have struck American military assets and equipment at Kuwait’s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem Air Base, as as positions in Syria.
In Kuwait, the government reported that a desalination plant was attacked for the second consecutive day, causing a fire. Officials condemned the incident as a direct strike on vital civilian infrastructure. The Kuwaiti army confirmed it was intercepting hostile drones during the Iranian attack, while sirens sounded across Bahrain early Monday morning, according to the country’s interior ministry.
New Wave of American Strikes
US Central Command stated it had initiated “a new wave of strikes” aimed at “degrading” Iran’s ability to target commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz’s critical shipping lanes. The statement provided no further operational details. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that US missiles struck several Iranian cities early Monday, with explosions heard in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr, and Bandar Imam Khomeini.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed that Washington would continue to target Iran as long as it attacked global commercial shipping. “The Strait of Hormuz are international waterways, and they continue to launch against the ships in that international waterway,” Rubio said. “As long as Iran insists on controlling an international waterway, we’re gonna have to respond to that. The United States always remains open to a diplomatic solution.”
Tankers Immobilized in Strategic Waterway
The IRGC claimed that two oil tankers exploded and were immobilized after attempting to transit what it described as an unsafe southern route through Hormuz. The Guards alleged the vessels were encouraged by the US military to use the passage. Reuters could not immediately verify the incident, and the IRGC statement did not disclose the vessels’ names, flags, crew details, or casualty figures.
The Guards warned that the waterway would remain perilous as long as US “aggression” persisted. “This passage will not be safe for the transit of petrochemical products, nor even a single drop of oil and gas,” the statement declared. According to LSEG data, only four vessels made the transit through Hormuz on Sunday, down from eight the previous day. At least three oil product tankers and one Very Large Crude Carrier have entered the strait since Friday to load oil.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported late Sunday that a vessel was on fire near the Omani coast, though the cause remained unverified.
Rising Casualties and Regional Instability
The US military announced the latest American casualty in the conflict, reporting that a service member was killed in northern Iraq on Saturday during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance on a downed Iranian attack drone. US forces maintain military bases in the area.
Previously, the military confirmed two service personnel died in Jordan, with a third listed as missing in action. Central Command stated Sunday that “unidentified remains” were recovered from the site of Friday’s attack and that “an examination process to verify the remains is ongoing.” The latest announcements bring the total number of US military personnel killed since the war began to 17, with more than 420 others wounded.
The conflict erupted on February 28 when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, aiming to disable Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs and weaken its regional proxies. The war has since killed thousands of people, predominantly in Iran and Lebanon.
