DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military on Saturday announced the first U.S. troop deaths due to direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war, saying two were killed and another was missing in an attack on a base in Jordan.
They were killed Friday as the U.S. and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks, a statement said. Four other service members who were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals were later discharged. The dead were not identified.
Since the war began, 16 U.S. service members have now been killed and over 430 wounded.
Minutes earlier, Iran’s supreme leader had 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, still unseen since the war began, 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.
There was no new word on mediation efforts.
