US forces end latest round of strikes on Iran for 10th consecutive night

Washington DC [US], July 21 (ANI): The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the US forces had completed another fresh round of strikes against Iran, marking the 10th consecutive night of military operations aimed at degrading Tehran's military capabilities linked to attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement issued on Monday, CENTCOM said the latest strikes concluded at 9 pm ET on July 20 and targeted Iranian military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defence systems.
"U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) completed another round of strikes against Iran at 9 p.m. ET, July 20," the statement said.
According to CENTCOM, the operation was intended to reduce Iran's ability to continue attacks on commercial vessels transiting the strategic waterway.
"U.S. forces struck Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems to degrade Iran's ability to continue attacking commercial vessels flowing through the Strait of Hormuz," the statement added.
CENTCOM said commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continues despite the ongoing tensions.
"Commercial vessel transits through the vital international maritime corridor continue. Since early May, CENTCOM forces have helped facilitate the transit of approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil," it said.
Reaffirming the US military's posture in the region, CENTCOM said American forces remain prepared to respond to threats against civilian maritime traffic.
"American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly transit the strait," the statement added.
Following the strikes, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its armed forces targeted multiple US-linked assets across the Gulf region, including what they described as the destruction of an American missile defence radar system and an F-15 aircraft inside a shelter in Jordan, as well as an attack on Amazon's central data infrastructure in Bahrain.
In a series of announcements issued by the IRGC and the Iranian Army and carried by Iran's state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the IRGC stated that its strikes came as part of "Operation Nasr 2", while the Iranian Army targeted the assets as under "Operation Lightning".
The IRGC claimed that its forces had attacked a compound housing US military personnel in Jordan's Rukban region, alleging that several soldiers were killed.
"The IRGC's aerospace fighters attacked a compound where the American army forces were stationed in the Rukban region of Jordan, killing a number of them," the statement said, as carried by IRIB.
IRGC also claimed that an MQ-9 drone hangar at Ali Al-Salem in the Kuwait base was hit, damaging or destroying several drones.
The Iranian Army further claimed that HIMARS missile systems belonging to US forces at the Arifjan base in Kuwait were targeted with surface-to-surface missiles.
This comes as tensions between Iran and the United States escalated after the collapse of the 14-point MoU, signed last month, aimed at ending the hostilities between the two sides and opening the pathway for further negotiations, particularly on Iran's nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz.
Its collapse renewed the conflict in West Asia, with the US striking Iranian military and civilian assets, and the Islamic Republic also targeting American bases across the Gulf in retaliatory strikes. (ANI)