The US launched a ninth night of strikes targeting Iran early Monday, after announcing the death of another American service member, as the price of Brent crude oil climbed above $90 a barrel, the highest level since June. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
The US military said the service member was killed on Saturday in northern Iraq, where the US has military bases, during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance on a downed Iranian attack drone.
Donald Trump, returning to Washington after the World Cup final, said: "We hit them very hard again tonight. We did that in honour of the, probably three, it's probably three great patriots."
It was the third US death in recent days, after two military service personnel were killed in an Iranian attack on a Jordanian airbase on Friday, with a third missing in action. Since the war began, 17 US service members have been killed.
As the strikes began early Monday, a ship caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz near the coastline of Oman, the British military said. It was unclear what sparked the blaze. The Revolutionary Guards later claimed two oil tankers were blown up, but there was no independent confirmation.
The US and Iran have inched closer to all-out war as last month's interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled.
Iran continued to retaliate by hitting US-allied countries throughout the Middle East, with sirens heard in Bahrain early on Monday. The US embassy warned: "Iran may seek to target unspecified locations in central Manama."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards also claimed to have launched a "surprise attack" on an enemy command centre in the Al-Tanf region of Syria.
After Iran targeted sites in Jordan on Sunday, Israel warned of the danger of the strikes spilling across its borders. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said: "If Iran fires missiles at Israel, we will attack them with full force." The US is expected to send dozens of additional refuelling planes to Israel.
Trump has threatened to target Iran's power stations and bridges to compel Tehran to loosen its hold on the Strait of Hormuz. Last week the US reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. The military on Saturday said it had redirected six ships and disabled one since then.
Oil prices rose at the opening of trading in Asia on Monday, with Brent crude climbing 2.72% to $90.50 a barrel.
On Saturday, Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned of "unforgettable lessons" if the US kept attacking. An Iranian negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments in the interim deal agreed last month.
The halfway point has passed in the 60 days the deal set out to negotiate the permanent end of the war.
On Sunday, US energy secretary Chris Wright defended the Trump administration's strategy, arguing that the mission had shifted toward ensuring oil shipments could move through the Strait of Hormuz. "We did a pause to try to get an agreement with the Iranian people to allow oil to flow without them attacking it. They've proven unwilling to do that, and we've pivoted. Now, what we're doing is assuring that that oil and gas and other products can flow through the Strait of Hormuz with or without Iranian cooperation," Wright said.