Donald Trump has postponed a planned tribute for fallen American service members as leaked intelligence assessments suggest Iran is not expected to yield to his demands, even after the latest wave of US strikes.
The President was due to receive the remains of First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, both of whom were killed in an Iranian attack on a US military base in Jordan.
The solemn dignified transfer ceremony had been arranged for Tuesday at Dover Air Force Base, but officials suddenly pushed it back without providing a revised schedule.
The Pentagon has also named Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, as another casualty, saying he died during the controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.
The number of US troops killed in the conflict has now climbed to 17, while close to 100 American service members have been wounded in Iranian attacks targeting bases across the Middle East in the last two weeks.
US intelligence officials have reportedly cautioned Trump that Tehran is unlikely to retreat from its position or offer concessions on its nuclear program, despite renewed American strikes against Iranian military and civilian infrastructure, according to the Washington Post.
Current and former intelligence figures say the United States and Iran appear trapped in a dangerous middle ground between open war and diplomacy, with US casualties increasing and key munitions supplies under growing pressure.
Iran has meanwhile intensified its rhetoric against Trump and his family, with threatening billboards portraying their deaths appearing across Tehran.
US intelligence analysts are also warning Trump that Iran is unlikely to soften its stance or make nuclear concessions, despite renewed strikes on the regime’s military and civilian infrastructure
Fighting reignited two weeks ago after ceasefire talks between the US and Iran broke down that triggered ten consecutive nights of strikes on regime targets
First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, were killed in an Iranian attack on a US air base in Jordan on Friday
Iran has also stepped up its threats against the President and his family as billboards depicting their deaths spring up across Tehran
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Fighting reignited two weeks ago after ceasefire talks between the US and Iran broke down that triggered ten consecutive nights of strikes on regime targets.
The US is trying to cripple Tehran’s ability to menace commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carries one-fifth of all global oil.
America accused Iran a few weeks ago 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.
Iran, meanwhile, has responded by launching missile and drone attacks at Gulf nation water and power plants.
US bombardments so far have targeted Iranian command centers, air defenses, naval assets, coastal surveillance posts and missile, drone and communications sites.
Opening another front in the conflict, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.
The militants are are threatening to close off the vital Bab al-Mandeb strait between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa that feeds shipping into the Suez Canal.
The dignified transfer of fallen US troops was set to take place at Dover Air Force Base on Tuesday with Trump present but was abruptly postponed with no new time announced
Iran has responded by launching missile and drone attacks at Gulf nation water and power plants
If the closure is successful it could have dire economic consequences for global trade, including choking off a waterway that carries roughly 12 percent of it.
With the Strait of Hormuz already effectively shut, it would squeeze the second of the region’s two critical energy chokepoints.
Even with a wider war looming, both the US and Iran signaled they were open to fresh negotiations but no progress had been made.
More than 400 troops have been injured in the conflict since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28.
The President, speaking at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday night after attending the World Cup final, said the US had ‘hit them very hard again’ in a fresh barrage launched to avenge the fallen soldiers.
