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Tehran11:07 p.m. July 19
Iran War Live Updates: U.S. and Iran Edge Closer to Wider War After U.S. Soldiers Killed
The United States was said to be sending more warplanes to the Middle East, a move that was already in the works before Iranian fire killed two soldiers in Jordan.
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U.S. and Iranian forces edged closer to a wider war over the weekend as two American soldiers were killed during an Iranian missile barrage in Jordan, and both sides targeted sensitive infrastructure sites including bridges and water facilities.
In a sign that the fighting could intensify, American officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity on Sunday said that the United States was sending more warplanes to the Middle East, a move that was in the works even before the soldiers’ deaths.
The strike on Jordan, which also left one service member missing, capped a week of spiraling attacks that largely demolished what remained of the deal to end the war that President Trump agreed to with Iran last month. The State Department cautioned Americans traveling abroad that tensions in the Middle East had created the “potential for unforeseen escalation.”
U.S. officials who were not authorized to publicly discuss operational matters said on Sunday that Air Force F-16 fighter jets from Germany and stealthy F-35 jets from Britain were being sent to the Middle East. Additional aerial refueling aircraft were also on the way, according to the officials.
The U.S. military said early on Sunday that it had attacked Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps forces responsible for striking U.S. forces in Jordan.
Iran retaliated with strikes on Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, Middle East countries where the United States maintains a significant military presence. In recent days, Iranian attacks have increasingly damaged critical infrastructure, including an oil facility and power and water treatment plants in Kuwait, according to the authorities.
Jordan evacuated the international airport and seaport in the coastal city of Aqaba after a “specific and credible threat,” according to the U.S. Embassy there. The country’s air defenses later shot down three Iranian missiles that targeted the country, the Jordanian military said, while a fourth landed in an unpopulated area.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the loss of the U.S. soldiers “only stiffens our resolve.” But the attacks seemed likely to deepen Mr. Trump’s dilemma over how to move ahead with the war against Iran he began alongside Israel more than four months ago.
Here’s what else to know:
Supreme leader’s message: Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, argued the United States had violated the cease-fire deal made in June and called Mr. Trump’s signature on it “worthless and invalid,” in a message carried by state media on Saturday.
Soldiers’ deaths: Friday marked the first time U.S. troops were killed by Iranian fire since the truce unraveled in recent weeks, bringing the war’s death toll among U.S. personnel to 16.
Jordan in focus: The Iranian attacks on Jordan which killed the two U.S. personnel were the fourth in five days in the country, underlining the Arab nation’s growing strategic importance as a host for U.S. forces in the region. Read more ›
Isolation in Iran: At least 50 people in Iran have been killed since the escalation began earlier this month, according to the Iranian health ministry. Residents say they live in fear of the attacks. Read more ›
An American service member was killed in action on Saturday during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian attack drone in northern Iraq, the United States Central Command on Sunday. It was the 17th death of a member of the U.S. military since the war began on Feb. 28.
Another U.S. service member was wounded in the incident and was receiving treatment for a minor injury, the military said in a statement. The announcement came a day after the military said that two U.S. soliders had been killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan. That attack left a third U.S. service member missing, and U.S. Central Command said on Sunday that remains found at the scene of that strike were being examined.
Joseph Aoun, Lebanon’s president, met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Sunday to discuss the framework agreement with Israel that was brokered by the United States last month.
The joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February reignited the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group in southern Lebanon, and the agreement was meant to be a step toward peace, even though Hezbollah was not part of the talks and the fighting has continued. More than 4,300 people have been killed in the conflict since March, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Aoun said in a statement that he and Rubio had discussed the need for the U.S. to increase support for Lebanon’s economy and military, which under the agreement is supposed to assert control of territory in southern Lebanon that Israel has seized in recent months. Rubio said that the U.S. was committed to Lebanon’s effort to “reclaim their country.”
So far, Israel has remained on the sidelines of the mounting clashes between Iran and the United States over the past week. The question is whether that will last if the escalation worsens.
President Trump launched the war on Iran alongside Israel in late February, with the two militaries working more closely than ever before. But as the war dragged on, Mr. Trump increasingly parted ways with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, on how to prosecute the campaign — and whether to continue it at all.
That divergence was evident last month, as Israel and Iran traded attacks for the first time since an April truce ended the fiercest fighting between the three countries. Mr. Trump called Mr. Netanyahu and told him to stop escalating Israel’s attacks, arguing that the United States was close to reaching a deal with Iran, according to multiple officials briefed on the call.
Bucking Israeli opposition, Mr. Trump did end up signing an agreement with Iran last month to stop fighting and negotiate a broader end to the conflict. But the cease-fire was short-lived, and the United States and Iran have since returned to an escalating cycle of strikes and counter-strikes.
Since that cease-fire, however, Iranian forces have not directly bombarded Israel, a move that would likely herald a return to full-blown war. Last week, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to inflict massive damage against Iran if attacked.
“I will say this to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on it being quiet if you attack us,” he said at a conference in southern Israel, adding that Israel’s retaliation would be “much more powerful” than during the war earlier this year.
Nonetheless, the fighting has crept noticeably closer to Israel’s borders over the past week.
On Sunday, Israeli forces fired interceptor rockets amid an incoming Iranian barrage for the first time in several weeks. The attack was aimed at the neighboring country of Jordan, but the military said it had to shoot “missile debris” out of the sky to prevent it from landing in Israeli territory.
Israeli analysts say the Israeli leader has reasons — both political and personal — to resume the war.
Mr. Netanyahu now faces hotly contested national elections this October. The Israeli public could head to the polls with the war, which many view as having mixed results or even as an abject failure, still hanging overhead.
Many of Mr. Netanyahu’s lofty war aims — which included eliminating Iran’s nuclear program and laying the groundwork to topple the Islamic Republic — remain very much unfinished.
Iran’s leadership emerged from the conflict battered but intact. Its nuclear program and ballistic missile apparatus resisted Israeli and American efforts to wipe them out. And the deal Mr. Trump negotiated did not even touch Iran’s support for Hezbollah, Hamas and other anti-Israel proxy militias across the Middle East.
But Mr. Netanyahu must also balance those concerns with appeasing Mr. Trump, for whom the war quickly became an unpopular headache with no clear offramp. By resuming the war without Mr. Trump’s say-so, Mr. Netanyahu would risk compromising Israel’s ties with its most important ally on the world stage.
A small plume of smoke rose above King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba, Jordan, on Sunday in video filmed from across the border in Eilat, Israel, and verified by The New York Times. Air raid sirens were heard across Jordan earlier in the day, and the Jordanian military said later that three Iranian missiles had been intercepted while a fourth fell in a remote area.
The United States was sending more warplanes to the Middle East, according to American officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity on Sunday, another sign the Trump administration may soon further escalate its strikes against Iran.
Air Force F-16 fighter jets from Germany and stealthy F-35 jets from Britain were being sent to the Middle East, according to the officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss operational matters. Additional aerial refueling aircraft were also on the way.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the region, declined to comment on the deployments.
The redeployment of the aircraft had already been ordered before an Iranian attack on Friday that killed two Army soldiers, left another U.S. service member missing, and injured many others in Jordan. That attack continued a weeklong pattern of strikes and counter-strikes, and prompted retaliation by the United States that the military said was in part to “swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces.”
Even before those strikes, President Trump signaled that he planned to increase attacks on Iran in the coming week, and intended to hit more Iranian infrastructure, including bridges, electrical power plants and distribution systems.
It was not immediately clear where all the additional warplanes would be stationed, but an Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity on Saturday said the United States had decided to place some additional aerial refueling aircraft at Israeli Air Force bases.
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
As Washington and Tehran escalate their attacks, civilians in Iran’s embattled south fear the growing cost they may pay. U.S. bombardment has not only battered Iranian military targets, but destroyed roads and infrastructure, said Reza, a 58-year-old retiree in Bushehr province, who gave only his first name out of fear of government retaliation. The destruction only adds to an already difficult reality, he said.
At a time when temperatures are running over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, residents are dealing with daily powercuts and water outages every other day, he said. “Much of the world is so immersed in their own lives,” he said, “that the destruction happening in Iran no longer seems important to them.”
Iran has been increasingly targeting Jordan with attacks like the one on Friday that killed two U.S. servicemen. The reason, analysts said, is that Jordan has been playing a more central role in U.S. military operations against Iran.
The U.S. and Jordan have long cooperated on military, intelligence and counterterrorism and Jordan hosts major U.S. air bases. U.S. officials say Washington increasingly relied on Jordan in the run-up to and the early days of the war against Iran, as the Pentagon shifted a number of troops from the Gulf Arab nations of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to relatively more secure locations in Jordan and neighboring Israel.
Jordan’s role grew as other American allies in the region restricted Washington’s ability to base troops in and fly aircraft over their territories, the U.S. officials said.
But unlike the resource-rich Gulf-nations, Jordan relies heavily on the U.S. for foreign aid and is not in a strong position to deny Washington’s wishes.
Omid Memarian, an Iran analyst at DAWN, a Washington-based think tank focused on the Middle East, said on Sunday that he imagined Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia “are now even more hesitant to let the U.S. broadly use their bases to attack Iran,” after Iran retaliated against them. “But Jordan, because of its security agreement with the U.S. and the very one-sided, dominant relationship Washington has with Jordan, would not be in a position to say no.”
On Sunday, Jordan evacuated the international airport and seaport in the coastal city of Aqaba after a “specific and credible threat,” the U.S. embassy there said. The country’s air defenses later shot down three Iranian missiles that targeted the country, the Jordanian military said, while a fourth landed in an unpopulated area.
During the first phase of the war, Iran focused more heavily on retaliation against Israel and on Gulf Arab countries that assisted the United States. But now that the conflict has entered a new phase, with the U.S.-Iran cease-fire steadily unraveling, the military picture appears to have changed.
On Friday, an Iranian attack on a military base in Jordan killed two U.S. soldiers and left another service member missing, according to American officials. It was the fourth attack last week on U.S. forces in Jordan, which left dozens of U.S. soldiers wounded and damaged a number of helicopters.
The first attack hit a residential facility at King Faisal Air Base, wounding as many as five U.S. service members. The second hit a base in eastern Jordan, damaging a number of U.S. Blackhawk helicopters.
Two days later, the officials said, Iranian missiles hit the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Azraq, a hub for the U.S. Air Force, with a barrage of attacks, wounding about 20 U.S. troops rushing to take cover in bunkers. That base was struck again on Friday, when the two soldiers were killed and four were wounded.
Iran said on Friday it had launched a drone attack targeting fuel tanks at the U.S. base in Azraq, Jordan, as well as missiles and drones to target aircraft shelters, according to Fars News Agency, a semiofficial Iranian news outlet. Previously Iran has said it targeted radar and communications systems used by U.S. forces.
The U.S. military has long operated out of Jordanian air bases and there are nearly 4,000 service members in the country, according to a recent Congressional report.
Earlier this month, Jordan’s army chief Maj. Gen. Yousef Hunaiti and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Daniel Zimmerman met and discussed expanding military and defense cooperation and partnership between the two countries, according to Jordan’s Petra state news agency.
U.S. economic and military aid to Jordan, going back to the 1950s, has tripled over the past 15 years. In the 2025 fiscal year, the U.S. gave Jordan $1.45 billion in economic and military aid, according to the Congressional report.
The United States is sending more warplanes to the Middle East, American officials said on Sunday, in a sign that the Trump administration may be preparing to escalate strikes against Iran.
Air Force F-16 fighter jets from Germany and F-35 stealth jets from Britain are being sent to the Middle East, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. Additional aerial refueling aircraft are also on the way.
U.S. Central Command declined to comment on the deployments.
The additional aircraft were ordered to be sent to the region before an Iranian attack on Friday killed two Army soldiers, left another missing, and injured many others in Jordan.
Iran’s state broadcaster reported on Sunday that U.S. missiles had struck the outskirts of Abadan, a city in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province. State media later said that the explosions were caused by friendly fire.
The U.S Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Breaking news reporter
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Sunday that it was seeking more information about what Iran said was an attack on the construction site of a planned nuclear power plant in Darkhovin, in southwestern Iran. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that the facility was in the “very early stages of construction” and that any attack was likely to pose no radiological risk, hours after the Iranian authorities said it had been hit by projectiles amid U.S. strikes. The U.N. agency’s chief, Rafael Grossi, reiterated his calls for all warring parties to restrain from military activity near any nuclear-related site.
The Jordanian military said it had shot down three Iranian ballistic missiles on Sunday, in the latest attack targeting the country over recent days. A fourth missile fell in an open area well away from population centers, the military added.
Air-raid sirens had blared out in Jordan just a few hours after the U.S. embassy there warned of a potential attack on the airport and seaport in the southern city of Aqaba. The Jordanian government denied the U.S. statement, but an Iranian missile attack followed swiftly. There were no reports of casualties or damage, the Jordanian military said.
Warning sirens sounded across Amman, the Jordanian capital, on Sunday afternoon, signaling incoming attacks.
The sirens began shortly after the Israeli military said Iran had launched missiles toward Aqaba, a city in southern Jordan. Earlier, the Jordanian authorities had disputed a claim by the U.S. embassy in the country that the airport and seaport in Aqaba had been evacuated because of a “credible threat.”
The Israeli military said that Iran had launched missiles toward Aqaba in southern Jordan, hours after Jordanian officials had disputed a U.S. warning that the city’s international airport and seaport had been evacuated because of a “specific and credible threat.” The Israeli military said air-raid sirens may sound in southern Israel, which borders Aqaba, due to “spillover” from the attack.
Jordan has come under intensifying Iranian attacks in recent days, with Iranian officials saying that they are targeting military facilities used by U.S. forces in the country.
The Kuwaiti authorities said that Iran attacked a power and water desalination plant for the second time in two days, and urged residents to conserve electricity.
Persian Gulf countries rely heavily on desalination technology to produce drinking water, and the infrastructure has been seen as one of the most vulnerable military targets in the region.
Iran has said that its attacks on Gulf Arab countries have targeted U.S. military bases and soldiers, rather than civilians.
The Iranian authorities accused the United States of targeting the construction site of a nuclear power plant in overnight strikes. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said that a facility being built in Darkhovin, in southwestern Khuzestan province, was hit by “several projectiles” in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to state media, without specifying the level of damage.
The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees operations in the region, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shortly after the U.S. authorities in Jordan warned that local officials evacuated the airport and seaport in the southern city of Aqaba, Jordanian officials denied that account. “The relevant authorities have not issued any evacuation decisions for Aqaba Airport or the port,” said Mohammad Momani, the spokesman for Jordan’s government, state media reported on Sunday. The authorities had not identified any potential threats in recent hours either, he added.
The U.S. embassy in Jordan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Breaking news reporter
The authorities in Jordan on Sunday issued evacuation warnings for the international airport and seaport in the southern city of Aqaba, according to the U.S. embassy in the country. U.S. officials said on social media that the warning was prompted by a “specific and credible threat” and urged Americans to avoid traveling to either location.
Jordan has become a growing focus of the war in recent days. Iran has targeted U.S. forces in the country at least four times in the past week, American officials have said, including the attack on Friday that killed two U.S. service members.
Aqaba, on Jordan’s Red Sea coast, is a popular destination with cruise ships and international tourists, and borders Israel.
Bahrain said on Sunday that it had intercepted several “Iranian aerial attacks” targeting civilians, hours after warning sirens sounded and residents in the country were urged to seek shelter.
Bahrain hosts a major U.S. naval base and has been targeted by Iranian attacks in recent days. The government did not specify the exact nature of the latest strikes or what had been targeted.
Breaking news reporter
Warning sirens sounded in Bahrain on Sunday morning, the country’s interior ministry said on social media, as it urged residents to seek shelter in a safe place. The brief statement did not say what prompted the sirens. The Persian Gulf state, which houses a United States naval base, has in recent days been targeted by Iranian forces.
The deaths of two U.S. service members in an Iranian attack in Jordan on Friday bring to 16 the total number of American military personnel killed since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
A U.S. official said the two most recent deaths were believed to have been caused by Iranian ballistic missiles launched in a barrage at a military base in Jordan. Several Iranian missiles were shot down, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the attack. But at least one penetrated U.S. and Jordanian air defenses.
President Trump has repeatedly said he would avenge the deaths of any U.S. soldiers. About 1:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, American forces launched a new round of attacks in Iran, according to Central Command.
The two U.S. service members killed were active-duty Army soldiers, the official said.
U.S. death toll in the war with Iran
In recent days, Iran has been mixing up its tactics for attacking U.S. personnel on bases in the region, the official said, using a combination of medium-range ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones in the hopes of overwhelming air defense systems.
Six Army soldiers were killed during a March 1 attack on the port of Shuaiba in Kuwait. Another service member died of injuries he suffered during a March 1 attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, and six Air Force personnel died when a KC-135 aerial refueling jet crashed in western Iraq on March 12.
The last known U.S. death from the war was a Navy helicopter pilot who was declared missing after an emergency landing in the Arabian Sea on July 1, which the Navy’s Fifth Fleet said was not believed to have been caused by enemy action. Days later, the Navy called off its search for the missing aviator.
The Pentagon’s casualty reporting protocols call for publicly identifying deceased service members only after 24 hours have passed since next of kin were notified. The names of troops wounded in action are not typically released.
More than 400 U.S. service members have been injured in the Iran conflict, according to the military’s Central Command, which directs military operations in the Middle East.
The command’s statement on Saturday said four American service members wounded in Friday’s attack were taken to Jordanian hospitals, and have been discharged.
More American troops received minor injuries and have been returned to duty, the statement said, but did not specify how many.
Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Minnesota.
