ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran has threatened to strike back after US Central Command (CENTCOM) completed its eighth consecutive wave of retaliatory attacks on Sunday, launched in response to the deaths caused by Iranian missile strikes on Jordan.
"Any bullying, expansionism and savagery will be met with a decisive and devastating response from the faithful, brave and mighty fighters of the Armed Forces, and we will impose costs on them heavier than those of the second and third imposed wars,” Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command, the unified combatant command headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr News Agency.
The US and Iran have been locked in continuous strikes and counterstrikes for nearly two weeks, a significant escalation following a breakdown in relations after both sides traded fire, derailing a preliminary mid-June agreement intended to extend a fragile ceasefire and open the door to negotiations on more complex issues.
Abdollahi added that “victory” in the ongoing conflict against the US “depends on internal cohesion, and seriously confronting this satanic plot to disappoint the enemy is a necessary and urgent duty for all.”
The statement came shortly after CENTCOM announced the conclusion of new strikes hitting “Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities.”
CENTCOM, which oversees US troops in the Middle East, said it struck Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), whose Friday attacks on Jordan claimed the lives of two US service members, with another still missing and four more injured. The Command said it would withhold further details, including the identities of the fallen service members.
“More than 50,000 U.S. men and women in uniform are operating across the Middle East. They remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” the command’s statement added.
US President Donald Trump also said in a post on Truth Social, before the operation concluded, that “the gates of HELL are about to be unleashed.”
The conflict between the US and Iran has escalated into a dangerous state, with both sides reportedly targeting non-military sites and infrastructure.
CENTCOM has intensified its attacks on southern Iranian port cities, particularly Bandar Abbas in Hormuzgan province. In addition to military facilities, CENTCOM has also struck bridges and railways to sever Iranian military supply lines.
Meanwhile, Iranian attacks on Kuwait have damaged “several vital and civilian facilities in the country, as the attacks struck installations affiliated with the oil, electricity, and water sectors, leading to outbreaks of fires and causing severe damage to a number of facilities and installations,” according to a statement by the Kuwaiti armed forces on Saturday.
Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei accused the US on Saturday of violating the mid-June memorandum of understanding, saying the alleged breach proved the “worthlessness and invalidity” of the US president’s signature, and warning that Iran has “unforgettable lessons” for its “American enemy.”
"Now that the American enemy seeks to incite war and bear its most serious consequences, it should know that the dear Iranian nation and the axis of resistance have unforgettable lessons to offer it," he said in a statement shared by Iranian state media.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not made any public appearances since a US-Israeli attack killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war in late February. The son is believed to have been injured in the same attack.
