United States Launches 9th Consecutive Day of Airstrikes on Iran...Iran Vows Response to Attack on Nuclear Plant

[Financial News] The United States, which has been carrying out daily airstrikes on Iran without pause since the 11th local time, launched its ninth day of attacks. Iran said the United States had attacked a nuclear power plant under construction and warned of retaliation.
United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. military operations in Iran, posted on social media platform X on the 19th, saying, "We began the ninth consecutive day of airstrikes against Iran at 7 p.m. Eastern Time today (2:30 a.m. on the 20th in Iran)."
It added, "This operation is aimed at continuously weakening Iran's military capabilities, which are used to attack merchant ships and civilian sailors passing through the Strait of Hormuz."
The two sides, which signed a ceasefire memorandum with Iran on the 17th of last month and agreed to a 60-day truce, are now effectively back at war. After airstrikes on Iran on the 26th and 27th of last month, the United States bombed Iran again on the 7th and 9th of this month, then carried out daily strikes from the 11th to the 19th. U.S. President Donald Trump had already notified Congress of the resumption of combat on the 10th.
Iran has also been carrying out retaliatory attacks in response to the U.S. airstrikes. On the 17th, a U.S. base in Jordan was hit by a long-range Iranian strike, killing two U.S. service members and one other person. On the 19th in northern Iraq, another U.S. service member was killed while dismantling an Iranian suicide drone that had crashed the previous day.
CENTCOM did not separately mention any specific target on the 19th. Iran's Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said in a statement that the United States had attacked the Darkhovin nuclear power plant with multiple projectiles. The Darkhovin plant in Khuzestan Province, southwestern Iran, began foundation work in December 2022, but full-scale construction had still not started as of March this year.
In response to the statement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said, "This facility is in the early stages of construction, and no nuclear material was stored there when the IAEA last visited the site."
On the same day, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, told state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in an interview, "The U.S. attack on the Darkhovin nuclear power plant under construction is a dangerous strike targeting Iran's peaceful infrastructure." He said, "The United States bears full responsibility for the rising tension and instability," adding, "Iran strongly condemns this attack and will take appropriate measures to defend its national interests and security."
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