Iran21 July, 20263 min read
Iranian Attacks Kill Four U.S. Soldiers at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Iranian strike hit Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, killing U.S. service members. Initial reports cited two killed, one missing, four hospitalized; later counts varied.
ABC News was read line by line by the Watchdog: 4.5. See the score →
Jordan deaths and toll
The Iranian attacks over the weekend killed four U.S. soldiers, bringing the toll to at least 18 U.S. service members killed since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, and roughly 500 wounded, according to Defense Department figures cited by ABC News.
ABC News identified Pfc. Isabella Gonzales, 19, as being killed Friday during an Iranian missile and drone attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, and it quoted Brig. Gen. Glenn Henke saying, “We are profoundly saddened by the loss of Pvt. Isabella Gonzales.”
The AP reported that Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, were killed in Jordan in Friday’s attacks, and it said a third service member was reported missing in the attacks that killed them.
Al Jazeera said the Friday strikes were “the first time US soldiers have been killed by Iranian attacks on US military installations since March 1,” and it described the incident as showing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s (IRGC) ability to inflict a deadly toll five months into the US-Israel war on Iran.
Officials, analysts, and diplomacy
In Washington, CBS News said the Pentagon identified a third soldier believed to have been killed in Jordan as 28-year-old active-duty Army Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad of Ozone Park, New York, and it noted that the total number of U.S. deaths since the start of the war was 18.
NewsNation reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X that President Donald Trump will attend a dignified transfer for Feehan and Gonzales at Dover Air Force Base, and it quoted Leavitt saying, “The president and the entire White House are praying for their families.”
Al Jazeera quoted Jennifer Kavanagh, the director of military analysis at the Defense Priorities think tank, saying, “Iran’s military capabilities remain formidable. It has reconstituted faster than expected,” as it argued Iran’s attacks have become more precise over time.
Al Jazeera also quoted Mona Yacoubian of CSIS saying Iran appeared to show “greater intent” in attacking U.S. military assets in the recent round of attacks, and it said the toll of the latest strikes may reflect increased accuracy, degradation of U.S. defense and radar systems, or “lucky hits” from the sheer scale of attacks.
What’s at stake next
The conflict’s next phase is framed by continued U.S. strikes and the risk to U.S. forces across the region, with CBS News saying American forces launched an 11th consecutive night of strikes on Iran after Iran said it targeted U.S. assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan and a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. CBS News reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the Iran war has cost about $37.5 billion, while it also said multiple sources familiar with the matter said the total cost could be far higher.
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the Iran war has cost about $37.5 billion.”
Al Jazeera described how Iran’s ability to keep killing U.S. personnel is tied to the location and design of U.S. sites spread across the Middle East and the Gulf, and it quoted Andreas Krieg saying strikes can “cause substantial damage” even when many incoming weapons are destroyed. Al Jazeera also said about 500 U.S. soldiers have been wounded since the war began and that about 220 structures and pieces of major U.S. military equipment or buildings were reported damaged or destroyed following the breakdown of the ceasefire on July 8, underscoring what the sources portray as the scale of damage and injury at risk.