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Explainer: After nine straight nights of strikes, where is the US-Iran conflict headed?

The US carried out a ninth consecutive night of military strikes against Iran early on Monday, targeting command centres, missile facilities, air defence systems, maritime assets and communications infrastructure. The latest developments indicate the conflict is expanding beyond direct military exchanges, with growing implications for regional security, global energy supplies and international shipping. Here is what to know. Why are the US strikes continuing? President Donald Trump said US forces had struck Iran “very hard,” describing the operations as retaliation for the deaths of US service members in the Middle East. The latest casualty on the US side came in northern Iraq, where a service member was killed during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance recovered from a downed Iranian drone. According to American media, at least 17 US soldiers have been killed since Feb 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran. Strait of Hormuz at the heart of the co...

Syria says repelled drone attack from Iraq on US base

Syria's assistant defence minister said Sunday that his country's forces had repelled a drone attack from neighbouring Iraq targeting one of Syria's last US military bases. "Earlier today, the US base in Qasrak, located on our territory, was attacked by four drones launched from Iraqi territory," Sipan Hamo said on X, adding that "the drones were shot down without casualties". "We hold Iraq responsible and call upon it to prevent the recurrence of attacks that threaten our stability." The attack came a day after Syria's army said it repelled another drone attack from Iraq aimed at al-Tanf, a base in the southeast which used to house US forces. Read: Iran says US planning ground attack despite diplomacy claims Earlier this week, the Syrian military said another base in the northeast was also targeted by a missile attack from Iraq, with an Iraqi official saying a local armed group was behind it. Iraq has arrested four people in connection with that attack. Iraq has been pulled into the war since it was sparked by US and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28, with the conflict engulfing much of the Middle East. Pro-Tehran Iraqi groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region, while strikes have also targeted these groups. In recent months, American forces have withdrawn from the al-Tanf base, as well as Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, and have begun withdrawing from the Qasrak base, also located in Hasakeh.

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