US forces struck Iran for a ninth consecutive day on Monday as the number of confirmed American military deaths in the renewed fighting rose to three, and concerns grew over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which the Trump administration accused the Islamic Republic of seeking to control “as leverage against the world.”

In a statement, US Central Command said the strikes were aimed at “degrading” Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels in the strait’s vital shipping lanes, targeting military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks.

“The US military is holding Iran accountable at the commander in chief’s direction,” said Central Command. “CENTCOM forces remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready.”

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing its own reporters, said US missiles struck several Iranian cities early Monday, with explosions heard in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini. State media reported that strikes also hit several locations in Iran’s southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country’s only civilian nuclear plant.

Announcing the latest casualties in the war, the US military said on Sunday that a servicemember was killed on Saturday in northern Iraq, where the US has military bases, “during a controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian attack drone.

Earlier in the weekend, the US military said two of its service personnel died in Jordan and that a third was missing in action. On Sunday, Central Command said in a statement that “unidentified remains” had been found at the site of Friday’s attack and that “an examination process to verify the remains is ongoing.”

The casualty announcements brought the total number of US military personnel killed since the war began to 17, with more than 420 others wounded.

“We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the, probably three, it’s probably three great patriots,” Trump told reporters amid the latest strikes as he returned to Washington following the World Cup final.

Trump said “we feel very badly,” when asked about the military fatalities, adding that those who died were fighting so that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, meanwhile, claimed early Monday that it had hit and disabled two oil tankers trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

“Late last night, two non-compliant oil tankers… attempted to enter and exit through what was described as the unsafe and hazardous southern route of the Strait of Hormuz, exploded and were brought to a halt,” the Guards says in a statement, according to the Tasnim news agency.

The statement gave no details on the vessels’ names, flags, crews or any casualties.

The Guards said the waterway would remain unsafe as long as what it called US........

© The Times of Israel