U.S. President Donald Trump said American forces had delivered another powerful strike against Iran and indicated that military operations would continue in memory of three U.S. service members killed in recent incidents.

“We hit them very hard again tonight,” Trump said, describing the latest attacks as a tribute to the American troops killed in Jordan and Iraq.

Trump claimed Iran had suffered extensive military damage and retained only a limited number of missiles, drones and weapons-production facilities. His assessment could not be independently verified.

The president also reiterated that Washington would not allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon, claiming Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure had been severely damaged during the conflict.

Trump further asserted that the United States, rather than Iran, now controlled the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic waterway has become a central front in the fighting, with shipping traffic falling sharply amid Iranian threats, attacks on commercial vessels and continuing U.S. military operations.

The remarks followed the ninth consecutive night of American strikes against Iran. U.S. Central Command said the latest operation targeted Iranian military command centers, air defenses, coastal-surveillance systems, maritime capabilities, communications networks and missile and drone facilities. 

Two U.S. service members were killed in an Iranian attack on a military base in Jordan, while another died in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone. The deaths raised the number of American military personnel killed during the conflict to 17.