Video spreading across social media appears to capture the moment Iranian missiles struck a military airbase in Jordan, claiming the lives of two U.S. service members. A third American remains unaccounted for following the Friday attack. A separate U.S. service member was also killed in Iraq on Saturday, underscoring the deadly dangers facing troops even outside of direct combat with Iran.
The escalating conflict is hitting American consumers at the pump, with the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline climbing back to $4. Global oil benchmark Brent crude also surged past $90 a barrel Monday, deepening an energy crisis tied to the ongoing fighting.
The U.S. military’s Central Command announced that Monday’s airstrikes took aim at what it described as “Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and communications networks.”
Iranian officials reported Sunday that at least 50 people were killed and 517 others wounded in the most recent wave of American strikes. Since the war began on February 28, a total of 17 U.S. service members have lost their lives.
Military officials said the latest American fatality in Iraq occurred Saturday during what was described as a “controlled detonation” of an Iranian drone that had been shot down.
“We hit them very hard again tonight,” Trump said. “And we did that in honor” of the soldiers who were killed.
As the new strikes got underway early Monday, a ship burst into flames in the Strait of Hormuz after being struck by a projectile near the coast of Oman, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. The crew was forced to abandon the burning vessel, which remained adrift and on fire hours later, the UKMTO reported.
The route skirting Oman is one the U.S. military has been urging commercial ships to use to steer clear of Iranian-controlled waters. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard later claimed responsibility for targeting tankers in the strait.
Early Monday, the United States launched a fresh round of airstrikes against Iran, focusing on an area near a northwestern city thought to house underground missile facilities. Iran retaliated by striking Bahrain — headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet — as well as Kuwait.
The two nations have been edging steadily toward full-scale war. A temporary agreement reached last month that was intended to bring a permanent end to the fighting has since collapsed. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has ground nearly to a halt, and both sides have struck civilian infrastructure that millions of people depend on daily. The economic fallout is being felt by American families, with fuel prices adding new financial strain heading into the fall midterm elections.
