TEHRAN: The United States expanded the scope of its strikes on Iran on Monday (Jul 20), targeting provinces around the country including a city hosting a nuclear power plant, as the Islamic republic kept up its attacks in the region.

The Middle East war resumed after a weeks-long lull prompted by an agreement signed in June, and oil prices surged to a one-month high as the foes battled to control the vital Strait of Hormuz.

As its truce with the US collapsed, Tehran reimposed its blockade of the waterway through which a fifth of world oil supplies transited prior to the war, while Washington hit back by again blockading Iran's ports.

While the US had focused its strikes since the return to war mainly on areas near Hormuz, on Monday attacks hit provinces elsewhere in the country, including in the centre and the north, according to state media and local authorities.

All of the provinces hit host military bases and air defence systems.

In Bushehr, home to the country's only operational civilian nuclear power plant, governor Mohammad Mozaffari told state news agency IRNA: "A few minutes ago, several locations in Bushehr city were hit by American enemy's projectiles."

In East Azerbaijan province in the north, the head of the local crisis management unit Majid Farshi told IRNA that "one person was martyred and several others injured" in an attack there.

Despite the latest attacks, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said diplomatic exchanges with the United States via mediators were ongoing.

"Ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators," he told a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.

SHIP ON FIRE

In the Hormuz strait, meanwhile, sailors abandoned a vessel set on fire in an attack, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency.

"The vessel was struck by an unknown projectile. The crew safely abandoned the vessel and have been recovered by a tug boat. The fire has not been extinguished and the vessel is currently adrift," UKMTO said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards had earlier said that two oil tankers trying to transit the strait "exploded and were brought to a halt", according to a statement reported by Tasnim news agency.

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on countries around the world to share the burden of protecting global shipping.

"It's clear that Iran, at least some people in Iran, want to control the straits and hold that as leverage against the world," Rubio told reporters.

"The United States will do and continue to do what it needs to, to protect global shipping, but other countries need to begin to step up and provide, whether it's hardware or finances, to help carry that burden," he said.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday that it successfully completed the ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran, while Rubio said he would "continue to try" to reach a diplomatic solution.

The fresh fighting came after a weekend in which the US announced three new US military fatalities and one service member missing in action.

Two were killed during Iranian missile and drone attacks on Jordan on Friday, while another service member died in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone, CENTCOM said.

President Donald Trump said Sunday the latest US strikes on Iran "hit them very hard" in honour of the American fatalities.

The deaths brought to 17 the confirmed number of American military fatalities since the conflict began with a massive US-Israeli strike on the Islamic republic.

On Friday, Iran's health ministry reported that 50 people had been killed in recent fighting and more than 500 wounded.

IRAN STRIKES NEIGHBOURS

Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced on Monday that they had hit targets in Syria, Jordan and Kuwait overnight.

In Syria, Iranian forces launched "a surprise attack on the enemy special operations command centre in the Al-Tanf region", according to a Guards statement carried by state media.

The US said it withdrew its troops from Tanf in February.

In Jordan, the Guards said it targeted US military aircraft stationed at Aqaba Airport "with ballistic missiles, causing severe damage to a number of them".

The Guards also said they hit US military targets based in Kuwait, including an early-warning radar system that was "completely destroyed".

Kuwaiti air defences were "engaging hostile drone attacks following Iranian aggression", its army said Monday.

Bahrain's interior ministry also said that its air raid sirens had sounded and urged citizens and residents to head to "the nearest safe place".