ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US military said on Tuesday it had completed another round of strikes against Iranian military targets, while Tehran claimed it had struck US military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait and stopped two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, amid escalating tensions and the killing of two American soldiers.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it completed its latest operation on Tuesday, targeting "Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems" to reduce Tehran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
"Commercial vessel transits through the vital international maritime corridor continue," CENTCOM said early Tuesday, adding that US forces have helped facilitate the passage of "approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil" through the waterway since early May.
The announcement comes as diplomatic efforts to end the fighting have stalled despite renewed mediation attempts regarding maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy chokepoint, with both Washington and Tehran continuing to exchange military strikes across the region over the control of the strategic waterway.
The US command said American forces "remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait."
Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said they had struck US military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait, according to state news agency IRNA in the form of "two air defence systems and a radar installation" at two US outposts in Bahrain early Tuesday, as well as missile defense systems, radar installations, and satellite reception systems in Kuwait.
"With this radar sweep, the enemy should prepare for even more decisive and powerful waves of drone and missile attacks," the IRGC said in a statement relayed by IRNA.
The IRGC also claimed it targeted "three major US bases in Kuwait" with kamikaze drones. Iranian state television IRIB said the targets included administrative buildings and antennas at Camp Arifjan, a helicopter parking area at Camp al-Udairi, and troop accommodation facilities at Ahmad Al Jaber Air Base.
Separately, the IRGC said they stopped two "non-compliant oil tankers" attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
"Two non-compliant oil tankers attempting to pass through the unsafe southern route of the Strait of Hormuz were stopped after explosions caused extensive fires aboard them," the IRGC said.
The latest exchange comes a day after US President Donald Trump vowed that Iran would "pay for that killing many times over" following the deaths of two American soldiers in an Iranian missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and another in the Kurdistan Region.
The Department of War identified the soldiers as First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, who were killed over the weekend. CENTCOM has also reported the death of another US service member in the Region during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone.
The renewed fighting has continued for more than 10 consecutive days despite earlier attempts to end nearly five months of hostilities that began in late February.
According to Rudaw's tracking, Iran and allied groups in Iraq have launched 918 drones at the Kurdistan Region since February 28, killing 30 people and wounding 148. Since the war began, 17 US service members have been killed and at least 420 injured.
