October 1, 2026
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States launched a new round of airstrikes against Iran on Monday in response to Iranian attacks on ships and U.S.-allied targets in the Gulf, as Washington said another American service member had died after an Iranian drone was downed in Iraq.
Iran responded by launching attacks toward Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, and Kuwait, which hosts U.S. military bases.
The latest exchange followed days of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and regional targets, raising concerns that the conflict could expand despite an interim agreement reached last month. The deal was intended to reduce fighting, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow negotiators 60 days to work toward a broader settlement.
The U.S. military said the American service member was killed Saturday in Iraq during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.
“We hit them very hard again tonight,” President Donald Trump said. “And we did that in honor of” the soldiers killed, he said.
U.S. Central Command said the strikes were aimed at Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and communications networks.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that American strikes killed at least one person around Tabriz, about 325 miles northwest of Tehran. Tabriz is believed to host underground missile bases run by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. IRNA also reported likely strikes in Khuzestan, Hormozgan and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces.
As the U.S. strikes began, a vessel caught fire early Monday in the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by a projectile near Oman’s coastline, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. The crew abandoned the vessel, which remained adrift and ablaze hours later, UKMTO said.
The U.S. military has encouraged ships to use a route near Oman to avoid waters Iran says it controls. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard later said it was targeting tankers in the strait.
Bahrain sounded missile alert sirens Monday morning, while Kuwait said its air defenses were firing at an incoming Iranian barrage. Kuwait and Bahrain both host major U.S. military facilities.
The fighting has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy corridors. Before the conflict, about one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies moved through the waterway.
A new pressure point could emerge for energy markets after Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced Monday a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia in response to an attack on Sanaa International Airport last week. With shipping through the Strait of Hormuz reduced, Saudi Arabia has relied on a pipeline to move oil to the Red Sea.
The United States last week reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt crude oil shipments. The U.S. military said Saturday it had redirected six ships and disabled one since then.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States remains open to negotiations with Iran but will continue responding to attacks.
“We’re going to continue to respond,” Rubio told reporters. “If the door opens to diplomacy — if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system, or take control of the negotiations — that’ll be a very positive development. That’s not where we are tonight, unfortunately.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei later said “proposals conveyed through mediators have been communicated to us,” but he declined to elaborate.
The 60-day period set by the interim agreement is now more than halfway over. Negotiators were expected to use that time to work toward a permanent end to the fighting and address other issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian authorities said Sunday that at least 50 people have been killed and 517 wounded in the latest rounds of U.S. strikes. Since the war began on Feb. 28, 17 U.S. service members have been killed.
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