US Strikes Iran For Eighth Straight Night As Tehran Hits Back On Gulf Bases

The United States carried out an eighth consecutive night of airstrikes on Iran, hitting an under construction nuclear power plant and Revolutionary Guard sites in retaliation for the killing of American troops in Jordan, even as Iranian missiles aimed at the Jordanian port city of Aqaba triggered interceptions near the neighbouring Israeli resort town of Eilat. The strikes, ordered by President Donald Trump , deepened a conflict now entering its third week after the collapse of last month's interim deal, which Tehran has since declared "suspended" and in a "crisis stage."

US Central Command said the raids targeted Iranian coastal surveillance, air defence facilities, maritime capabilities and missile and drone storage sites, aiming to curb Tehran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz . Iran's atomic energy agency confirmed the Darkhovin Nuclear Power Plant site was struck, prompting the International Atomic Energy Agency to say it is looking into the reported attack, though satellite imagery has shown minimal construction and no known radiological material there.

The Jordan base attack that prompted the retaliation killed two American service members and left a third missing in action , with several more wounded.

Israeli and Jordanian forces jointly intercepted a missile aimed at Aqaba, with loud booms and interceptor trails reported over Eilat, though no air raid sirens sounded in the Israeli city. Jordanian spokesperson Mohammad Al Momani denied any evacuation orders had been issued for Aqaba's airport or seaport, even as the US Embassy in Jordan strongly advised citizens to avoid both locations, citing a "specific and credible threat."

Kuwait , Bahrain and Jordan again activated air defences, with a Kuwaiti desalination plant struck for the second time in two days. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps separately claimed it intercepted four ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict's reach also extended to Lebanon , where a soldier was killed and two others wounded after a device exploded near an army vehicle in Al Mansouri in the south.

In a fresh escalation of rhetoric, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei renewed his warning that those responsible for his father's killing "will not die peacefully in their beds," vowing that revenge "will most certainly be carried out." Trump , responding to the threats, said he had instructed US officials to launch an overwhelming military response should Iran attempt to assassinate him, adding that he had left standing orders to strike Iran "at levels that they've never seen before" if anything happens to him.

Tehran underscored that threat visually, unveiling a new billboard in central Tehran's Palestine Square carrying the Persian slogan "Blood for Blood." Set against the backdrop of a burning White House, the banner depicts Trump alongside his wife Melania Trump and his five children, Ivanka, Don Jr, Eric, Tiffany and Barron Trump , standing above a row of coffins draped in American flags. The display follows an earlier Enghelab Square billboard showing Trump himself lying in an open coffin beneath the words "We kill Trump."

Adding to the pressure on Washington's sanctions regime, a new report revealed that Iran's shadow fleet rushed roughly 70 million barrels of oil, worth an estimated $6 billion , to China during a brief truce that suspended the US naval blockade last month. About 20 Iranian tankers reportedly sailed toward waters off Malaysia, where cargoes were transferred ship to ship before continuing on to Chinese teapot refineries , rebuilding Tehran's financial buffer just as restrictions returned.