US launches ninth night of Iran strikes as strait of Hormuz standoff sees oil price pass $90 a barrel

From handout video footage released by US Central Command, as the US launches a ninth night of strikes on Iran amid continued exchanges of fire over use of the strait of Hormuz. Photograph: US Central Command (CENTCOM)/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen From handout video footage released by US Central Command, as the US launches a ninth night of strikes on Iran amid continued exchanges of fire over use of the strait of Hormuz. Photograph: US Central Command (CENTCOM)/AFP/Getty Images US launches ninth night of Iran strikes as strait of Hormuz standoff sees oil price pass $90 a barrel After the US military confirmed that a service member had been killed in Iraq – the third in recent days – Donald Trump said the new attacks were ‘in honour’ of the dead Middle East crisis live: follow latest updates The US launched a ninth night of strikes targeting Iran early Monday, after announcing the death of another American service member, as the price of Brent crude oil climbed above $90 a barrel, the highest level since June. The US military said the service member was killed on Saturday in northern Iraq, where the US has military bases, during a controlled detonation of what was called unexploded ordnance on a downed Iranian attack drone. “We hit them very hard again tonight,” Donald Trump said as he returned to Washington after the World Cup final, adding “we did that in honour of the, probably three, it’s probably three great patriots.” Why is Trump risking midterm disaster by resuming the unpopular Iran war? Read more It was the third US death in recent days, after two military service personnel were killed in an Iranian attack on a Jordanian airbase on Friday, with a third missing in action. Since the war began, 17 US service members have been killed. As the strikes began early Monday, a ship caught fire in the strait of Hormuz near the coastline of Oman, the British military said. It was unclear what sparked the blaze off Oman, in the southern corridor the US military has encouraged ships to use to avoid Iran’s control. The Revolutionary Guards later claimed two oil tankers were blown up after attempting to transit through the southern route of the strait, but there was no independent confirmation. The US and Iran have inched closer to all-out war as last month’s interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Why is Trump risking midterm disaster by resuming the unpopular Iran war? Read more Iran continued to retaliate by hitting US-allied countries throughout the Middle East, with sirens heard in Bahrain early on Monday. The US embassy in the country warned: “Iran may seek to target unspecified locations in central Manama”, the capital, without elaborating. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also claimed to have launched a “surprise attack” on an enemy command centre in the Al-Tanf region of Syria, in a statement reported by state news agency IRNA. After Iran targeted