Nearly 100 US troops hurt as Iran conflict reaches tenth night of strikes

Nearly 100 United States service members have suffered injuries since 7 July, the Pentagon has said, as the American military exchanged a tenth consecutive night of strikes with Iran and tensions across the Middle East intensified further.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Monday that the vast majority of those hurt experienced only minor concussions, adding that 96 per cent of affected personnel had already returned to duty. Parnell's comments followed a New York Times report alleging that the Pentagon had been slow to disclose troop injuries sustained during the conflict.

CNN separately reported that the US military had delayed disclosure of some injuries, citing military sources who said the delay was intended to protect the identities and safety of affected service members rather than to conceal the scale of casualties.

The Pentagon confirmed last weekend that three US service members had been killed, two at a base in Jordan and one in northern Iraq. A dignified transfer of the remains, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed to Wednesday, according to a Trump administration official, with four service members expected to be repatriated to Dover Air Force Base.

President Donald Trump had earlier warned that Tehran would face consequences for the deaths, and the US military said it carried out further strikes on Iranian command centres and maritime facilities overnight into Tuesday. Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bandar Abbas and Qeshm in Hormozgan province.

Strait of Hormuz incident

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said on Tuesday it had received reports that a tanker had been struck by an unidentified projectile roughly eight nautical miles from Limah, Oman. The vessel's crew subsequently abandoned ship and boarded a lifeboat, with no environmental damage reported.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for the attack as well as two further strikes on vessels transiting the strait on Monday, according to Iranian state media. The incidents follow attacks on two other ships off the coasts of Oman and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.

Shipping traffic through the strait, a vital corridor for global oil and gas exports, has fallen sharply since the conflict escalated. The US military maintained that it had facilitated the transit of approximately 900 commercial vessels since early May, despite the disruption.

Houthi blockade announced

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement separately declared on Monday that it was imposing a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabian shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a narrow chokepoint at the southern end of the Red Sea leading to the Suez Canal.

A Houthi official said the move was a response to what the group described as a prolonged blockade on Yemen by Saudi Arabia. Supporters gathered in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Monday night to mark the announcement, according to footage distributed by Reuters.

Nearly 15 per cent of global maritime trade passes through Bab al-Mandeb, and industry estimates cited by CNN suggest earlier disruptions between 2023 and 2025 cost the global economy roughly US$20 billion annually. Saudi Arabia's military said the waterway would remain open despite the Houthi declaration.

Regional spillover and oil prices

The conflict has drawn in several neighbouring states. Kuwait said it intercepted hostile missiles and drones overnight, while Jordan said it downed three missiles launched from Iranian territory. The US is also increasing its fighter jet presence in the region, with additional refuelling aircraft arriving in Israel in recent days.

Benchmark Brent crude traded above US$88 a barrel on Tuesday, with average US petrol prices climbing towards US$4 a gallon, adding pressure on households ahead of the November midterm elections.

Mediators have floated a proposed ten-day ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, though US officials have downplayed the likelihood of Trump accepting such terms. Iran's interior minister has meanwhile travelled to Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, though no details of a prospective agreement have emerged.

In a related development, the Israeli military said it had begun a limited withdrawal from southern Lebanon, transferring control of three villages to the Lebanese army under a fourteen-point framework agreed after earlier US-mediated talks.