US Conducts 10th Night of Strikes Against Iran Amid Escalating Tensions and Retaliation Claims

The United States has carried out its 10th consecutive night of attacks against Iran, with Iranian media reporting explosions in Sirik, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Shiraz, and Isfahan.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the operation on Monday evening, claiming that the strikes are “designed to further degrade Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz”.

CENTCOM said that the strikes had been completed at 9 pm Eastern Time (0100 GMT), after hitting “Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems”.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued statements claiming to have retaliated by launching strikes on Kuwait, targeting “US HIMARS missile systems”, radars, satellite receivers, a telecommunications centre and MQ-9 drone hangar at multiple locations in the country.

The IRGC also claimed to have destroyed a radar and US air defence systems in Bahrain.

Two Greek-owned oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz were struck earlier on Monday, while the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reports that another tanker was hit off the coast of Oman’s port city of Limah causing the crew to abandon it. Early Tuesday morning, the IRGC claimed that two more oil tankers that attempted to “pass through the unsafe southern route in the Strait of Hormuz” had suffered explosions and “massive fires”.

Shortly before the night’s bombing began, US President Donald Trump took to social media to warn that Iranian attacks on US military personnel would be paid back “many times over”. On Friday, two US soldiers were killed, and a third was reported missing when an Iranian missile struck a military site in Jordan, while another US service member was killed in northern Iraq.

Trump also reiterated earlier warnings that continued Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz would be met with a stronger response.

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for an end to the conflict with Iran, saying Democrats will force Republicans to vote on halting military operations.

Posting on X, Schumer wrote: “Every second Trump prolongs his war in Iran is another second our service members remain in danger”. Senate democrats will “force Senate Republicans to take another vote to end this war and bring our troops home”, he said.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, the White House said strikes on Iran will continue until Trump decides otherwise, but ended the statement by saying that diplomatic talks between the the US and Iran are ongoing.