The U.S. military announced Saturday that two more service members have been killed in the war with Iran, pushing the total American death toll to 16.
The growing casualty count underscores a sobering reality: American troops do not have to be fighting on the ground to face deadly danger. The conflict — waged primarily through drones, missiles, and aircraft — has put U.S. forces stationed throughout the Middle East at risk, and has made the nations hosting those forces targets of Iranian aggression as peace negotiations have collapsed and fighting has intensified.
President Donald Trump has stated that the war is essential to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. As of Saturday afternoon, Trump had not personally commented on the latest deaths, which took place in Jordan. Instead, the White House directed attention to a statement released by U.S. Central Command.
The first major loss of life came shortly after the conflict began on February 28, when an Iranian drone strike hit a civilian port in Kuwait, killing six American soldiers. Those soldiers belonged to a supply and logistics unit from Iowa and were working inside a shipping container-style structure that had no defensive capabilities.
A seventh soldier died more than a week after sustaining wounds during an Iranian attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 1.
Later in March, six more service members lost their lives when a KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft, which had been supporting U.S. military operations against Iran, went down in Iraq. U.S. Central Command stated the aircraft was operating in friendly airspace when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred.
On Monday, the military reported that a Navy pilot died in a helicopter crash in the Arabian Sea. The Navy initially described the July 1 incident as an emergency landing and said there was “no indication the emergency was caused by hostile action.” The other three crew members aboard the helicopter were successfully rescued.
On Saturday, U.S. Central Command confirmed that the two most recent fatalities occurred in Jordan, where American forces came under attack from Iranian ballistic missiles and drones. The military also disclosed that one U.S. service member is currently unaccounted for following that attack.
Officials stated they are withholding the names of the fallen service members until 24 hours after their families have been notified.
American troops are not the only ones losing their lives in this conflict. Iranian authorities report that at least 50 people have been killed and more than 500 others wounded in U.S. strikes over the past three weeks alone, including eight people killed in a strike on a bridge on Friday.
The war has also claimed the lives of maritime workers, foreign nationals, and civilians in Gulf nations, Israel, and Lebanon.
