Washington, DC [US], July 20 (ANI): The United States and Iran sustained reciprocal missile and air strikes, with the hostilities showing no indication of de-escalating following the breakdown of a preliminary ceasefire effort.
Amid the intensifying conflict, US President Donald Trump stated that the most recent wave of American military operations was launched in memory of the American troops killed over the past few days.
'We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honour of the, probably three, it's probably three great patriots,' Trump informed journalists after arriving back in Washington from the FIFA World Cup final.
When questioned regarding the recent casualties, Trump noted that the United States 'feels very badly' and stated that the troops were engaged in combat to guarantee that 'Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.'
The fresh wave of strikes follows Washington's efforts to 'punish' Tehran after the American military suffered its initial fatalities since open conflict broke out in West Asia.
A preliminary pact designed to halt the fighting has subsequently collapsed, leaving both nations embroiled in a volatile standoff focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil transit bottleneck.
Iran claimed it targeted two US military installations in Kuwait with missile strikes, asserting that it was in retaliation for over a week of American operations that it alleged had struck transport infrastructure and civilian sites, including an 'under-construction nuclear power plant.'
Concurrently, Jordan stated that it had downed missiles, a day after the US military disclosed that two American troops were killed and another was unaccounted for while countering Iranian ballistic missile and drone strikes within Jordanian territory.
As the theatre of conflict expanded, US Central Command announced that another American service member was killed in northern Iraq during the disposal of unexploded ordnance from an intercepted Iranian drone.
The command also verified that it executed a ninth successive night of bombardments inside Iran, stating that the missions were designed to 'swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members.'