US launches new strikes on Iran, confirms death of service members

The United States has conducted a new wave of military strikes against Iran, now into the ninth night, after announcing the death of another American service member in Iraq.

Tehran has retaliated by delivering hard blows to US bases in Jordan and Kuwait as tensions mount.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells reporters that his country is still open to negotiating with Iran but that "it has to be real."

The US Central Command said in a social media post early Monday their latest strikes would continue degrading Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Two oil tankers in the strait reportedly exploded and immobilised as the attacks began.

Blasts were heard in Tabriz, a northwestern city believed to be home to underground missile bases run by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, resulting in at least one death. Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini also came under attack.

The country's semi-official Tasnim news agency reports that the outskirts of Abadan, a major oil-refining hub in the southwest, were targeted by US missiles.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says it's investigating reports of an overnight attack on the under-construction Darkhovin nuclear power plant in Iran's Khuzestan province.

A number of Gulf states that host US military installations have borne the brunt of Iran's retaliation.

The Guards on Monday announces striking and severely damaging multiple American military aircraft at an airport in Aqaba, Jordan.

Nationwide air raid sirens also went off across Bahrain, the home of the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

Kuwait authorities claim their air defence systems have thwarted hostile drone attacks from Tehran.

This after Washington confirms one of its servicemen had been killed in northern Iraq Saturday during a "controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance" from a downed Iranian attack drone.

Separately, the Centcom says unidentified remains were uncovered in Jordan on Sunday and were being examined, after one soldier went missing in Iran's drone and missile barrage Friday.

Two other American service members have died from the same strike.

As he departs for the ASEAN summit in Manila, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pays tribute to the military personnel killed in the Middle East combats and leaves the door open for diplomatic solutions.

He says, "And our hearts go out to these families, these are heroes that pay the ultimate price. Nothing the military does is safe. It's all inherently dangerous."

"If the door opens to diplomacy - if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system or take control of the negotiations - that'll be very positive development. That's not where we are tonight, unfortunately."