Two U.S. service members were killed in action in Jordan, and another service member remains missing, the U.S. Central Command reported Saturday in a news release. Four other U.S. service members were treated at hospitals in Jordan and have since been released.
U.S. officials did not disclose details about the circumstances but said the deadly attack occurred during a military operation between the U.S. and partner forces while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.
The service members injured, killed, or missing were not immediately identified, with the U.S. military stating it would release more information roughly 24 hours after next of kin notifications are complete. Since the war began, 16 U.S. service members have been killed and over 430 wounded.
Minutes earlier, Iran’s supreme leader warned of “unforgettable lessons” if the United States keeps attacking the Islamic Republic.
The remarks, read out on state TV and attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, also called President Donald Trump’s signature “worthless and invalid.” The comments came hours after a negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim deal signed about a month ago.
Tehran’s declarations snapped another fragile thread as the war shows no end in sight. The deal was aimed at permanently ending the fighting. Now Khamenei warns of “lessons” not only from Iran but its armed proxies in the region, calling them the “Axis of Resistance.”
The United States and Iran have been exchanging strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets. Their battle over the Strait of Hormuz has intensified in a conflict increasingly focused on control of the essential waterway that previously carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil. The strikes threaten civilians and services to them, including desalination plants for drinking water, while the global economy again is on alert.
The U.S. Central Command said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes hit “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities.” The U.S. has violated its commitments under the deal that was signed about a month ago and now Iran is “no longer implementing them,” Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told state TV.