Iran vows to take 'appropriate action' as US unleashes strikes for ninth consecutive night

Iran on Sunday vowed to take "appropriate action" as the US unleashes strikes on the nation for the ninth consecutive night, even attacking a nuclear power plant. The plant in question was under development and was located in the southwestern Khuzestan province. The latest clashes between the two nations have put the ceasefire agreed last month under jeopardy.

“The US attack on the Darkhovin power plant, which is under construction, constitutes a dangerous assault on Iran’s peaceful infrastructure,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in a statement on the US social media platform X. He maintained that Washington bears "full responsibility for the consequences of escalating insecurity and instability.”

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“Iran strongly condemns this aggression and will take appropriate action to defend its national interests and security,” Gharibabadi added. Earlier, Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation confirmed that the United States targeted the Darkhovin plant. US argued that they have been launching strikes against Iranian facilities after Tehran attacked vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

In retaliation for the latest strikes, Iran conducted retaliatory strikes, targeting facilities and bases it says are used by the US military in several regional countries. The exchanges of fire between the two nations came despite them signing a Pakistan-brokered memorandum of understanding in June to end hostilities and reach a lasting peace agreement.

Another US service member killed in the clashes

Ahead of the latest strikes, the US military confirmed that a service member was killed after an Iranian attack in northern Iraq. The incident took place a day after an attack on a base in Jordan, where two American soldiers were killed, and one continues to remain missing.

In its statement, the US Central Command (Centcom) said that the individual was killed during "a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance" from a downed Iranian attack drone, which also wounded a second service member. In its update, the American military noted that it had found "unidentified remains" after a search of the location of Friday's attack in Jordan. "An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing," it added.

Meanwhile, amid the clashes, Washington has reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports, and Tehran has declared the Strait of Hormuz closed. The US military noted that its latest attacks had been designed to "degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping" in the strait, and to "swiftly punish" Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces, it said were responsible for the attack in Jordan.