The United States bombs Iran again after two of its soldiers are killed

The United States launched a new series of bombings against Iran on Sunday morning, claiming it wanted to "punish" the deaths of two American servicemen in Iranian strikes in Jordan.

During this eighth consecutive night of strikes, the United States targeted military sites as well as "forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that launched attacks against members of the American forces in Jordan on July 17," the U.S. Army Middle East Command (Centcom) wrote in a statement.

The Iranian news agencies Mehr and Tasnim reported US airstrikes on Sirik, a port city on the Strait of Hormuz in the south of the country. The official IRNA news agency reported a "US enemy military attack near Hajiabad," in the same southern province of Hormozgan.

The Iranian military said it had launched explosive drones in retaliation against two military bases used by the Americans in Kuwait, according to state television.

Any American attack will be met with "a decisive and devastating response from the loyal, brave and powerful fighters of the Iranian Armed Forces. We will inflict even higher costs on them" than in previous wars, General Ali Abdollahi, the army commander, stated, according to state television.

On Saturday, Centcom announced the deaths of two American servicemen -- the first since the resumption of hostilities on July 7 -- and the disappearance of a third, during "Iranian missile and drone attacks" on Friday in Jordan.

The number of American soldiers killed since the start of the war in late February now stands at 16.

Hostilities have reached a new level of unprecedented intensity since the ceasefire agreed in April to end the war triggered by the Israeli-American offensive on Iran on February 28.

- "Unforgettable lessons" -

"Now that the American enemy seeks to incite war (...), it should know that the dear Iranian nation and the resistance front have unforgettable lessons to offer it," said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in a written message broadcast Saturday by state television.

"The repeated violation" of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries on June 17 to silence the guns "has once again demonstrated to everyone that the signature of the American president is worthless," he added.

According to a tally from the Iranian Ministry of Health, US strikes have killed at least 50 people and injured more than 500 since June 27.

Tehran announced on Saturday that it had struck an airbase used by the United States in Jordan, as well as military installations and civilian infrastructure in Kuwait.

- Damage in Kuwait -

According to Kuwaiti authorities, the strikes severely damaged a "vital" oil site and shut down several production units at a power and water desalination plant. A similar facility had already been hit the previous day.

As temperatures soared to 47°C in Kuwait on Saturday, authorities condemned the targeting of these "critical infrastructures." The Gulf Cooperation Council, which unites the region's oil monarchies, denounced the attacks as "war crimes."

"The fear of power cuts is evident, given the widespread calls to reduce consumption and switch off non-essential appliances," Ali Mahmoud, a 46-year-old Egyptian who works for a Kuwaiti electricity provider, told AFP. He mentioned the population's "concern" about "the war spreading."

In Iran, authorities in Hormozgan province claimed that the US attacks had "completely destroyed" a seawater pumping station and an electrical transformer at a desalination plant.

Alongside these bombings, maritime incidents are occurring in the Strait of Hormuz. Its opening by Iran was the main achievement of the memorandum of understanding intended to lead to peace, signed on June 17, but maritime traffic there is now practically at a standstill again.

Nearly one-fifth of the world's hydrocarbon trade passed through this strategic strait before the war.

The United States, for its part, has reimposed its blockade of Iranian ports, which it had lifted after the signing of the memorandum of understanding.