Two US troops dead, one missing after Iran attacks Jordan base
Jon Gambrell And Buckle Ezzedin
Two US soldiers are killed and another is missing following an attack on a base in Jordan; this was the first US military death from direct Iranian fire since the early days of the war.
The US military statement stated that they were killed on Friday while US and partner forces were defending against Iranian ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks. Four other soldiers were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals and later discharged. The identities of the dead were not publicly disclosed.
Since the war began, 16 US soldiers have been killed and more than 430 others have been injured.
Moments earlier, Iran’s religious leader had warned that there would be “unforgettable lessons” if the United States continued to attack the Islamic Republic.
In statements read on state television and attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei and not seen since the beginning of the war, it was stated that President Donald Trump’s signature was also “worthless and invalid”. The comments came hours after a negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim agreement signed nearly a month ago.
With no end to the war in sight, Tehran’s statements resolved yet another sensitive issue. The agreement aimed to end the hostilities permanently. Khamenei now warns to learn “lessons” not only from Iran but also from its armed proxies in the region, calling them the “Axis of Resistance.”
The United States and Iran carry out mutual attacks against infrastructure and military targets. Their war over the Strait of Hormuz has intensified, with a conflict increasingly focused on control of the key waterway that previously carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil. The global economy was again put on alert as strikes threatened civilians and services to civilians, including drinking water desalination plants.
The seventh straight night of attacks hit “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons depots and maritime capabilities,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement early Saturday.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Garibabadi, said in a statement to state television that the United States had violated its commitments under the agreement signed about a month ago and that Iran was no longer implementing them.
No new statements were made regarding mediation efforts.
The most damage from Iran’s attacks on Saturday occurred in Kuwait, where a water purification plant and an oil facility were hit, according to Kuwaiti officials and the Kuwait Oil Company. Both refused to give locations.
The strikes resulted in many injuries at the oil facility and a fire at the desalination plant, causing many power generation units to go offline. It was the second attack on a desalination plant in two days in the small desert nation, which relies on desalination for 90 percent of its drinking water.
According to the Kuwait Fire Force, several firefighters and one worker were injured while fighting two other fires caused by Iranian attacks. Kuwait briefly closed its airspace due to missile threats, and Kuwait Airways said it had rescheduled most of its flights to and from the capital.
Meanwhile, Iraq announced that it shot down attack drones over the city of Erbil. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said the kingdom’s air defenses shot down Iranian missiles, while air sirens sounded multiple times throughout the day in Bahrain and in the mornings in Saudi Arabia, according to their governments.
Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, secretary-general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, accused Iran of committing war crimes for attacks on infrastructure and civilian facilities.
US attacks hit Iran’s infrastructure
Iranian state television reported that US airstrikes hit an electricity and desalination plant in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province. IRNA said the Bonji desalination plant was destroyed, cutting off water supplies to about 10,000 people and damaging a desalination plant on the strategic Qeshm Island inside the strait.
Overnight attacks damaged two tunnels and a bridge and disrupted one of the main highways leading to Iran’s main port of Bandar Abbas, near the narrowest part of the strait, according to Iran’s state news agency. IRNA said three bridges were hit on Saturday, including one on the road to Bandar Abbas.
Iran acknowledged “attacks on its energy infrastructure” for the first time during US airstrikes on Friday, when its Energy Ministry called on people to use less energy in southern provinces “where extreme heat is experienced”. It was not stated what was hit.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has stepped up its warning that countries hosting US forces should “be ready to receive a corresponding response”, according to Iranian state television.
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