U.S. Service Members Killed In Iranian Strike On Jordan Base

U.S. Central Command has said two American service members were killed and one service member was missing after Iranian ballistic missiles and drones hit forces in Jordan overnight, U.S. officials said.

The Pentagon has since identified the two fallen service members as Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, who was killed in action Friday during the attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, and 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, who was killed in action Saturday. Both were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

The attack struck the Al-Azraq area, where U.S. forces use the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, and it came as fighting with Iran intensified after ceasefire talks broke down.

By Saturday evening, the U.S. military said it launched new airstrikes against Iran at the direction of President Donald Trump, making the deaths the first American military fatalities from Iranian fire since March.

Four other American service members needed medical evacuation to hospitals in Jordan, according to CENTCOM. The command said those four have since been discharged.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the strike on the base used by U.S. forces in Al-Azraq. The IRGC said it “completely destroyed” several aircraft in the attack, which it said involved both missiles and drones.

Open-source accounts also pointed to at least two impacts at the base. The account @Osinttechnical wrote, “Footage of the Iranian ballistic missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan last night. At least two missiles hit the base, killing two American service members.”

Another open-source account, @sentdefender, said, “Videos allegedly show pillars of thick black smoke rising from in and around Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.” @OSINTWarfare wrote, “The second impact caused a much larger explosion, suggesting it may have hit an important target.”

NASA’s FIRMS satellites also reported two heat sources at the base around 2 a.m. local time, according to open-source reports. Those heat signatures appeared in the area where personnel living quarters were located, the reports said.

CENTCOM has since said military personnel found unidentified remains Sunday at the site of Friday's attack in Jordan, while searching for the missing service member. An examination is underway to determine whether the remains belong to that service member.

By Saturday evening, U.S. forces had launched a new round of airstrikes against Iran, according to the military. Officials said the strikes aimed to “swiftly punish” Iran for killing American service members.

The new strikes marked the eighth straight night of U.S. attacks on Iran since ceasefire talks broke down. The latest exchange pushed the conflict into a sharper phase after months of U.S. casualties and Iranian attacks across the region.

President Trump reacted to the deaths in comments to NewsNation, saying, “Very sad, it’s a very sad thing... We hate to see it happen. It’s in service to our country.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged the news in a post on X, writing, “Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”

On Sunday, CENTCOM announced another U.S. combat death tied to the fighting. The command said a third service member, in northern Iraq, was killed in action on July 18 after an attempt to detonate unexploded ordnance from an Iranian drone.

That later death brought the U.S. combat death toll related to the Iran war to 17. Before that update, the conflict had killed 16 U.S. service members and wounded more than 430 since the war with Iran began.

CENTCOM also said it conducted a ninth consecutive night of strikes on Iran Sunday evening, targeting Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks.