WASHINGTON — Two US service members have been killed and one is missing in action after Iran struck a base used by American forces at Al-Azraq in Jordan, US Central Command announced on Saturday. The attack, which occurred on 17 July, is the first time American troops have been killed by Iranian fire since March and marks the first US combat fatalities on a permanent base in an allied country since the conflict began. Four additional service members were medically evacuated to hospitals in Jordan but have since been discharged. Other personnel sustained minor injuries and have returned to duty. Centcom said it will withhold the names of the fallen until 24 hours after their families are notified.

President Donald Trump told NewsNation the deaths were “a very sad thing. We hate to see it happen. It’s in service to our country.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.” The US military said it had begun launching new airstrikes against Iran to “swiftly punish” it for killing American service members.

The Attack

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the strike on the Al-Azraq base, saying it was conducted with both missiles and drones. The IRGC claimed to have “completely destroyed” several aircraft in the attack. The US has not verified that claim.

The base at Al-Azraq has been used by US and coalition forces for operations against ISIS, for surveillance flights, and, since the war with Iran began, as part of the regional air defence network protecting US assets and allies from Iranian missiles and drones.

Jordan is not a party to the war. The government in Amman has not commented publicly on the strike. The kingdom has been intercepting Iranian missiles and drones throughout the current escalation—three were shot down over Jordanian territory on Thursday—but the attack on Al-Azraq represents an escalation in Iran’s willingness to target fixed US installations in countries that neighbour neither Iran nor the contested Strait of Hormuz.

According to US Centcom statement confirming the casualties at Al-Azraq and the IRGC claim of responsibility for the strike, the deaths are the first US combat fatalities from Iranian fire since six Army Reserve soldiers were killed at Kuwait’s Shuaiba port on 1 March.

As our analysis of the expanding Iran conflict and the targeting of US bases in allied countries has documented, the war has escalated significantly in recent days. The US has struck Iranian military and civilian infrastructure for six consecutive nights, while Iran has retaliated with strikes on US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and now Jordan.

The US Death Toll

The deaths at Al-Azraq bring the total number of US service members who have died in the nearly five-month conflict to 16, according to the US military’s defence casualty analysis system.

Six Army Reserve soldiers were killed on 1 March by a direct Iranian strike on a makeshift operations centre at Kuwait’s Shuaiba port, in the opening hours of Iran’s retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. An Army sergeant died days later from injuries sustained during an attack in Saudi Arabia.

On 12 March, six service members were killed when a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crashed in western Iraq, though the military said the incident was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.” On 5 July, the Navy suspended its search for a missing service member whose helicopter went down in the Arabian Sea, saying there was “no indication the emergency was caused by hostile action.”

The deaths in Jordan are different. The previous fatalities occurred in the opening weeks of the war, in accidents, or in incidents not attributed to enemy action. The Al-Azraq strike was a deliberate Iranian attack on a permanent US installation in a country that is supposed to be an ally, not a battlefield.

According to US military defence casualty analysis system data on the 16 deaths in the conflict, including breakdowns by date, location, and cause, the casualties have occurred across multiple countries and circumstances, reflecting the expanding geography of the war.

The US and Iranian Response

The US military said on Saturday evening it had begun launching new airstrikes against Iran to “swiftly punish” it for the deaths. The retaliation adds to six consecutive nights of US strikes that have already hit Iranian military targets, bridges, a railway station, and an airport.

Iranian officials said on Saturday that 12 Iranians had been killed over the previous day, bringing the country’s death toll in the war’s latest phase to 50. A deputy governor in Hormozgan province said a water desalination plant had been destroyed in a US missile attack. The US has not commented on that claim.

The escalation is now producing casualties on both sides at an accelerating rate. The US is striking Iranian infrastructure to degrade the regime’s ability to function. Iran is striking US bases to impose costs that the American public will feel. The two American dead in Jordan are the first evidence that the Iranian strategy is achieving its objective.

Hegseth’s statement—”their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve”—signals that the US intends to escalate further. The previous six nights of strikes have already hit bridges, power infrastructure, and transport links. The next phase of retaliation has not been detailed.

As our coverage of the US-Iran war and the collapse of the June ceasefire agreement has tracked, the diplomatic framework that briefly paused the conflict has all but disintegrated. Neither side has formally abandoned the 17 June memorandum of understanding, but both are behaving as if it does not exist.