Washington: US Central Command (CENTCOM) has carried out a series of military operations targeting Iranian assets, marking an “eighth consecutive night” of kinetic actions against Tehran-backed facilities in the region.
According to an official statement released on X, the operation was conducted late Saturday under direct authorisation from the White House.
“US Central Command (CENTCOM) completed another round of strikes against Iran on July 18 at 11:30 p.m. ET, at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” the statement read.
During the operation, American forces targeted multiple strategic locations, including Iranian coastal surveillance networks, air defence infrastructure, maritime assets, and missile and drone storage sites.
CENTCOM said the objective of the mission was to further degrade “Iranian military capabilities”.
The military action also served as a retaliatory response to attacks on American personnel.
“American military assets also targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces that launched attacks against US service members in Jordan late Friday,” the command stated.
CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to “swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night”.
The command also stated that the operations were designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz”.
“During the eighth consecutive night of US strikes, CENTCOM forces successfully hit Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defence facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities.”
Highlighting the US military presence in the region, CENTCOM added, “More than 50,000 U.S. men and women in uniform are operating across the Middle East. They remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready.”
The latest operations followed the deaths of two US service members in Jordan, who CENTCOM said were killed while they “defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks”. Another service member remains missing.
CENTCOM also said:
“Four American service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals. They have since been discharged. Other personnel who were evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty.”
Iranian state media reported that the latest US operations targeted fuel infrastructure at the Al-Azraq US base in Jordan, while Tehran has continued retaliatory strikes against American positions across Gulf nations.
