New Delhi, July 19 -- The United States and Iran have entered a new phase of escalating conflict, with Washington carrying out its eighth consecutive night of airstrikes on Iranian targets and Tehran launching retaliatory attacks across the Gulf. The latest US strikes targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) units, coastal surveillance systems and air defence facilities, following an Iranian missile and drone attack on a US base in Jordan that killed two American service members. The renewed hostilities come after the collapse of a June 2026 interim ceasefire and stalled diplomatic efforts, with control of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear programme at the centre of the confrontation.

The latest wave of US-Iran hostilities...