Two American soldiers killed in Iranian strikes in Jordan were identified Monday, as Donald Trump appeared poised to widen the US military campaign against Tehran’s regime.
The Pentagon said First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, died following an attack Friday on a US air base in Jordan.
Gonzales, who was from Texas, was killed Friday, while Feehan, a Hawaii native, died Saturday. They are the first US service members killed in the conflict with Iran since March, raising the total American military death toll to 17.
A third American soldier was killed Saturday in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone. The Pentagon has not yet released that service member’s name.
US Central Command is also trying to determine whether remains discovered near the destroyed Jordan base are those of a fourth service member who had been reported missing.
With US casualties mounting, Trump’s confrontation with Iran is moving closer to a broader regional war, as American forces carried out a ninth straight wave of strikes.
Speaking Sunday night at Joint Base Andrews after attending the World Cup final, the President said the US had “hit them very hard again” in a new round of attacks launched in response to the deaths of American troops.
Iran responded Monday morning by firing explosive-packed suicide drones at critical infrastructure in Kuwait, the Kuwaiti military said.
Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, was one of two American soldiers killed following an attack on an American air base in Jordan on Friday
First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, was killed in action July 18 during an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan
Donald Trump is preparing to expand his war against the regime in the wake of the deaths
The President’s confrontation with Iran is spiraling toward a far wider conflict, with the US unleashing its ninth consecutive wave of strikes
Central Command is also working to establish whether remains found close to the devastated Jordan base belong to a fourth service member who had been listed as missing
US is trying to cripple Tehran’s ability to menace commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway responsible for carrying one-fifth of all global oil
Previously, Trump said the deaths of the two troops are ‘a very sad thing.’
The President also told NewsNation on Sunday that he ‘couldn’t care less’ if Iran no longer abides by the peace agreement signed last month.
The overnight bombardment pounded Iranian command centers, air defenses, naval assets, coastal surveillance posts and missile, drone and communications sites.
The US is trying to cripple Tehran’s ability to menace commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway responsible for carrying one-fifth of all global oil.
Fighting resumed last week after America accused Iran of violating the Memorandum of Understanding by attacking oil tankers passing through the Persian Gulf.
The US Navy has also hit back at Iranian aggression, reimposing a blockade on all of the regime’s ports and seizing several of its ships.
‘The US is planning for a wider war,’ said one American official familiar to the Washington Post. The source noted that the Pentagon was boosting the number of aircraft in the region.
The official cautioned that the expanded operation would be limited because US stocks of air-defense and long-range weapons are running low, and battle damage was restricting how many extra troops and warplanes can be funneled into the region.
