A third American service member has been killed in the Middle East within days – this time during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone in northern Iraq, the US military has announced.
The soldier died on Saturday as US forces attempted to dispose of unexploded ordnance from an Iranian attack drone, US Central Command said. A second service member was wounded in the operation, which came a day after two US troops were killed in a ballistic missile and drone strike on a base in Jordan on 17 July.
“A third US service member has been killed in Iraq amid escalating US-Iran strikes.”
After a search for a missing soldier from that earlier attack, US military personnel found unidentified remains at the location on Sunday. “An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing,” Centcom said, withholding further details out of respect for families.
The deaths bring the US toll from the months-long war with Iran to at least 17 service members, with more than 400 wounded, according to the Independent. The Mirror, citing Centcom, put the figure at 18.
The renewed exchanges of fire – now in their second week – have seen the US strike Iranian bridges, water desalination plants and electrical facilities. Iran has retaliated by targeting US allies across the Middle East, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Israel, which launched interceptors toward missile debris.
Donald Trump, who was golfing at his Bedminster club when the initial deaths were announced, called the news “a very sad thing”. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X: “Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, warned of “unforgettable lessons” if US strikes continue, accusing Trump of repeatedly breaching the temporary peace deal reached a month ago. Trump told NewsNation he “couldn’t care less” about Iran abandoning the memorandum.
Jordan, which summoned Iran’s charges d’affaires to demand an end to “unjustified and blatant Iranian attacks”, said its security was “a red line that cannot be crossed”. The UN’s nuclear watchdog called for restraint after an under-construction nuclear plant in Iran was struck, but noted the site contained no nuclear material during its last visit.