The US Central Command said that US forces today at 6:00 PM Eastern Time began launching new airstrikes against Iran, under the direction of the commander-in-chief.

It added that the strikes aim to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and to immediately punish Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces for the attacks they carried out against US service members in Jordan last night.

Earlier yesterday, the Central Command announced the death of two of its soldiers and the loss of a third in Jordan, following an Iranian attack targeting US forces positions, in a new escalation between Washington and Tehran after a week of reciprocal strikes.

It indicated that the two servicemen died the day before yesterday, while a third soldier remains missing, raising the death toll of US forces since the start of the war to 16, while the number of wounded exceeds 420.

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