Topline
A U.S. service member was killed during the detonation of an Iranian drone in Iraq on Saturday, a day after two U.S. service members were killed in an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Jordan, the U.S. military said Sunday.
President Donald Trump speaks with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth upon arrival at the US Army War College Field Landing Zone, on his way to the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on July 15, 2026. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
The U.S. service member was killed in northern Iraq “during a controlled detonation of an unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone,” U.S. Central Command said on X.
A second service member was wounded and is being treated for injuries.
Central Command also said Sunday it found unidentified remains at the site of the Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in Jordan on Friday that killed two U.S. service members and left a third missing.
The deaths announced Sunday bring the total number of U.S. service members killed in the war with Iran to 17, according to The New York Times.
The U.S. military said late Saturday it completed an eighth consecutive night of strikes on Iran and hit military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities and missile and drone storage sites.
The U.S. military also launched strikes against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces that attacked the base in Jordan on Friday, Central Command said.
Tangent
The U.S. is sending more warplanes to the Middle East, including F-35 jets from the U.K. and F-16 fighter jets stationed in Germany, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials. The deployments had already been ordered before the Iranian attack Friday in Jordan, according to the Times.
Key Background
Iran and the U.S. have escalated attacks against each other recently after the unraveling of an agreement reached last month to end the war, stemming from a disagreement over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump on Saturday defended the war in the wake of the recent deaths, telling the New York Post the service members died in Jordan “because they don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon,” calling the deaths a “shame.”
further reading
Two U.S. Service Members Killed In Iranian Strikes Against Jordan (Forbes)
