Bangladesh, July 31 -- he US military struck dozens of targets in Iran overnight in retaliation for Tehran's attack on American forces in Jordan on Wednesday (July 29), sparking a further Iranian response and threatening prospects for negotiations to achieve a permanent peace. The strikes - the first in more than five days - were launched hours after the US president, Donald Trump, vowed to hit Iran "very hard" following Tehran's targeting of a base in Jordan that hosts American troops. The latest attacks come after a days-long pause in violence between the two sides.

US Central Command said it hit dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran, including military command centres, as well as missile and drone facilities, in...