US strikes Iran for ninth consecutive night as two tankers reported hit in Strait of Hormuz

The United States has launched strikes on Iran for a ninth consecutive night, with Iranian media reporting explosions in multiple cities including Sirik, Jask, Tabriz and Chabahar, according to Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/20/us-bombs-iran-for-ninth-consecutive-night-as-hormuz-tensions-escalate).

Iran said two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz exploded and were immobilised as the conflict over the strategic waterway intensified, Reuters reported (https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMivwFBVV95cUxPbmtOemhMR1UtaVNoMENBMHltNEpKTWJNekRXUEtSa3hidndTM0VZVnRoTEJlV2ZENWtkYVFCUkJtSk8zdFhPeEJQSXRNMS1vWC03N2NJek14WklXdzhNZWkzMnZRUFpGcHg2OXotaHpyVW9jblFTYUM4U2lGcXFWa1NFbnZSQnpreVF6OXVhMW1oeHdIdkFNMjBJa09UZGgycjRkMjZ6Z1dxNC10enJIVDZJdlVSQjRxQlBZc05Tdw?oc=5). The strait is a global energy chokepoint through which a large share of the world's oil and gas shipments pass.

The US military said the latest strikes were aimed at "degrading Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial vessels and mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz," and announced the death of a third US service member in recent days, Al Jazeera reported (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/20/us-bombs-iran-for-ninth-consecutive-night-as-hormuz-tensions-escalate). Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said explosions were heard in the port cities of Mahshahr and Imam Khomeini, as well as near Sirik, Jask and Khvormuj.

A US soldier was killed in northern Iraq on Saturday during a "controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance" from a downed Iranian drone, wounding a second service member, according to the BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgk417jp83po). The death came a day after an attack on a base in Jordan killed two US soldiers and left another missing, the US military said.

The exchanges have unraveled a month-old ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, with Washington reimposing a blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran declaring the Strait of Hormuz closed and targeting US allies in the region, the BBC reported (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgk417jp83po). Iran's health ministry said at least 50 people have been killed and more than 500 injured in US strikes over the past three weeks.

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