The United States said airstrikes on Sunday aimed to “punish” Iran over the first US military deaths since renewed hostilities with the Islamic republic.

Iran rapidly announced its own retaliation, saying two US bases in Kuwait were targeted in response to more than a week of intensifying attacks — which Tehran said included strikes on an airport, a railway station and bridges.

A preliminary deal aimed at ending the war has collapsed as the foes fight to break the deadlock over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway key to the world’s oil supply.

The Iranian ar on Sunday it targeted two US bases in Kuwait with drones, hitting an ammunition depot at Camp Udairi and Patriot radar and air surveillance systems at the Ali Al Salem Air Base.

Tehran had also launched fresh strikes in Jordan, where the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said two service members were killed Friday as they “defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.”

It said another service member was still missing in action.

Those deaths brought to 16 the confirmed number of US military fatalities since US-Israeli strikes started the war on February 28.

The US military said that it carried out an eighth consecutive night of strikes against Iran, with targets including units behind the attack that killed two American troops in Jordan.

The attacks aimed to “swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night”, said US Central Command.

The Iranian news agencies Fars and Tasnim simultaneously reported US attacks on Sirik, a port located on the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.

 ‘Unforgettable lesson’

Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who took over from his father after he was killed in the opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes, vowed to teach the Americans an “unforgettable lesson”, in a statement carried by state TV.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Khamenei, warned that Tehran would resume “full-scale offensive operations” if US strikes continued in the coming days.

And Iran’s central military commander, Ali Abdollahi, warned that further US aggression would face a “decisive and devastating response”, according to a statement carried by state television on Sunday.

The renewed violence was initially sparked by Iranian attacks on ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iran closed the strait after the war broke out, and control over the route has become leverage in negotiations with Washington, which reimposed on Tuesday its own blockade of Iran’s ports.

The health ministry said Friday that 50 people had been killed since the renewed fighting broke out and more than 500 hurt.

Demand for water

Kuwait accused Tehran of targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure, with residents voicing worry that the renewed hostilities might drag on.

“The demand for water and canned goods has increased since this morning amid fears that services or supply chains will be affected,” Kuwait resident Hassan Rayan, 61, said Saturday.

Fellow resident Ali Mahmoud, 46, noted that “the streets and beaches were almost empty, even though it is a holiday.”

The Iranian army said it had targeted an air base used by American forces in Bahrain, another US ally in the Gulf, according to the state broadcaster.

And in Jordan, the Iranian state broadcaster reported that fuel tanks at Al-Azraq US base were targeted. The day before, the Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked US aircraft stationed in the country with missiles and drones.

The Jordanian army said it had shot down 10 missiles Saturday, and at least three the day before.

Hope for a political settlement to the war has fallen by the wayside, though mediators have attempted to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to hit Iranian infrastructure, although there has been no confirmation from Washington since then that US forces have begun to do so.

– Power facilities –

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported Saturday that US attacks killed three people and wounded eight in the southern province of Hormozgan.

In Khuzestan province, the deputy provincial governor said eight people had been killed over the past 10 days, according to Iran’s Tasnim.

Iran also said the supply of drinking water to several southern villages had been cut off, accusing the US of striking power facilities and desalination plants in the village of Bonji, according to Tasnim.

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Police were out in force for the nationwide protests which capped a campaign of demonstrations led by citizen-led vigilante groups that set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without papers to leave.

There were isolated reports of looting, stone-throwing and confrontation, including near Johannesburg where security forces escorted a handful of foreign nationals away from a mob brandishing large sticks.

Crowds of demonstrators moved through the centre of the city, South Africa’s financial capital, where most shops were shuttered, workers stayed home, and transport hubs were quiet.

They waved flags and placards, watched by police in bulletproof jackets and riot helmets.

In the southeastern city of Durban, the Zulu heartland, protesters turned out in traditional warrior attire, carrying spears, whips and shields and some draped in leopard skins.

Demonstrator Brightness Gumbi, 48, said she was frustrated at not being able to afford to rent a premises for her business while foreign nationals were able to run shops.

“The illegal foreigners manage to pay it because they sell drugs to our people,” she told AFP. “I hope through these demonstrations our president will hear our cries and enforce stricter laws.”

In tourist magnet Cape Town, only about 100 people joined a march through the city centre, passing a counterprotest against Afrophobia and xenophobia.

– ‘Mass deportation’-

One of the continent’s wealthiest countries, South Africa is a magnet for migrant labour while grappling with an unemployment rate above 30 percent, high crime and a breakdown in services in many areas.

Groups mobilising against illegal immigrants say they take jobs and services from locals, claims that analysts say is unfairly scapegoating foreign nationals for government failures.

“South Africans have been replaced by illegal foreigners, increasing unemployment,” the leader of the anti-immigrant March and March group, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, told a crowd in Durban.

“We want mass deportation,” she said. “For the next six months we want the government to get rid of the people who have not left.”

At least two Mozambicans, an Ethiopian and a Malawian have been killed in the latest outburst of anti-immigrant violence, according to police.

Several African governments — including Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique — have organised voluntary repatriation flights and buses for their citizens.

South Africa has seen previous flare-up of violence targeting undocumented foreign nationals, but this is the first time governments have simultaneously organised repatriations.

More than 25,000 people had been processed for departure in recent weeks, authorities said Monday.

– ‘I’m scared’ –

As the protests unfolded in several cities, hundreds of migrants — mostly Malawians and Zimbabweans — gathered in Cape Town, Johannesburg and other centres, waiting for assistance to go home.

Some said their landlords had evicted them or their employers had fired them, fearing fines from officials or attacks by vigilante groups.

“The people in South Africa, they don’t want us here. I’m scared,” said a 23-year-old Zimbabwean woman, who asked to remain anonymous, where around 2,000 people were waiting for buses.

Only a few dozen Malawians remained at a site in Durban from where several thousand had been bused out in recent days, either taken back to their country or to a processing site near the border with Zimbabwe.

“I thought I could stay on but neighbours warned us last night,” 32-year-old Adam John told AFP. “I felt that it is better to try and get home while I still can.”

– ‘Weaponised’ –

Concerned about a repeat of unrest five years ago when around 350 people were killed in days of looting and riots, the government put in place a massive security deployment for Tuesday’s mobilisation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced stepped-up government plans to combat illegal immigration and called on traditional leaders to use their “standing to calm tensions”.

Coming ahead of local government elections in November, the anti-migrant push has been “politically weaponised”, labour analyst Dale McKinley said.

Previous anti-foreigner riots in South Africa have proved deadly. In 2008, violence left 62 people dead.