US President Donald Trump has vowed severe retaliation against Iran after a deadly weekend of attacks on American forces, as US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed a fresh round of strikes on Iranian military targets.
CENTCOM said on X that American forces began a new wave of strikes at 4pm ET on Monday "at the Commander in Chief's direction." The strikes, the command said, are "designed to further degrade Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz."
Today at 4 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began a new round of strikes against Iran at the Commander in Chief's direction. The strikes are designed to further degrade Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 20, 2026
Hours earlier, Trump had issued a stark warning on his Truth Social platform.
"Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!" he wrote, adding that the "directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military," Trump wrote.
The warning followed the deaths of three American service members over the weekend.
1st Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas, were reportedly killed when Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan came under Iranian missile attack on Friday and Saturday.
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A third soldier reportedly died in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone.
Their deaths have taken the American death toll in the conflict to 17, ABC news reported.
Monday's strikes marked the ninth consecutive night of US bombing since a ceasefire collapsed in early July, reigniting hostilities that had briefly eased following a memorandum of understanding signed in June aimed at ending the war.
The renewed exchanges have centred on control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade passes.
The war between the US, Israel and Iran began on 28 February with joint American-Israeli strikes that included the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Since then, hundreds of American troops have reportedly been wounded alongside the fatalities.
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