Third confirmed American death of weekend comes as barrage of strikes unleashed to ‘punish’ Tehran

An American soldier was killed during the detonation of an Iranian drone, the US revealed on Sunday night as it launched attacks for a ninth consecutive night. 

The soldier, who has not been identified, died on Saturday during what was described by US Central command (Centcom) as “a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone” in northern Iraq. Another soldier was wounded.

That brings the number of American soldiers confirmed to have been killed this weekend to three, while a fourth is missing presumed dead after an Iranian missile strike on a US base in Jordan.

Human remains had been found at the scene of the strike in Jordan, Centcom announced on Sunday evening.

“After a thorough search, US military personnel found unidentified remains at the location earlier today,” it said.

“An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing.”

Several others were wounded in the assault on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a key site hosting US forces which has come under repeated attack in recent days.

The deaths bring the total number of US military staff killed in the Iran war to 17, with at least 430 injured.

Donald Trump called the American deaths “a shame” but argued that the armed forces’ mission remained essential.

“They did it because they don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Mr Trump said of the troops. “And it just shows you how bad [the Iranians] are.”

Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, said “the deaths of the fallen only strengthen our resolve”.

The US launched a barrage of air strikes on Iran over the weekend meant to “punish” the country for killing the Americans.

Targets included Iranian coastal surveillance and air defence facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites, as well as Iranian forces, the US military said. 

A fresh wave of American strikes continued in the early hours of Monday, marking the ninth consecutive night of attacks meant to “continue degrading Iranian military capabilities” threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Centcom said.

Explosions were reported in several cities – Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini on the Persian Gulf, Tabriz, in Iran’s north-west, and in Chabahar and Konarak on the Gulf of Oman – state news reported. 

A vessel was on fire off the coast of northern Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported in a notice of “suspicious activity” on Monday morning. 

“The cause of the fire has not been verified as this time,” UKMTO said.

Earlier on Sunday, Iranian authorities said the US had also attacked an under-construction nuclear power plant in the country’s south-west, in Darkhovin.

Tehran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said US forces “in an aggressive and brutal act contrary to international law, attacked the under-construction Darkhovin nuclear power plant... with a number of projectiles on Sunday”, according to a statement carried by Iranian state TV.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was looking into the reports, noting that the plant “is in the very early stages of construction and contained no nuclear material when last visited by the IAEA”.

In a post on X, the agency said that while the incident was “not believed to pose any radiological risk”, Rafael Grossi, its director, reiterated his “call for military restraint in the vicinity of all nuclear-related sites”.

Iran responded on Sunday morning by continuing its attacks on American allies across the Gulf.

Kuwait said it had come under missile and drone attack. It said a power station and water desalination facility had been hit, which it ‌described as ⁠a direct strike on vital civilian infrastructure.

IRNA, Iran’s state news agency, claimed that the strikes targeted US ammunition depots at Camp Buehring and Patriot missile batteries and radar systems at Ali al Salem Air Base. It described them as retaliation for “the enemy’s repeated aggressions”.

Air raid sirens also sounded across Bahrain on Sunday. Its government urged residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe location.

Israel’s defence minister said his country would respond powerfully to any attack by Iran, after Israeli and Jordanian forces intercepted an Iranian missile launched towards the Jordanian city of Aqaba.

Israel Katz said: “If Iran fires missiles at Israel, we will attack them with full force.”

Jordan ‌summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in Amman over what it called “unjustified and blatant Iranian attacks” ‌and “provocative ‌and inflammatory statements targeting the Kingdom’s territory”.

The escalating regional conflict is set to dominate diplomacy in Washington this week.

Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese president, will meet Mr Trump this week in the first visit by the country’s head of state to the White House in almost 20 years.

He is expected to present a plan to disarm Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Last week, he said he would ask Mr Trump to “exert the necessary pressure on Israel” to implement the US-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

Large numbers of Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon. Mr Trump has grown increasingly critical of Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign in the region, warning that it risks undermining his peace deal with Tehran.

However, Mr Trump said on Saturday that he “couldn’t care less” that Tehran announced it was abandoning the 14-point memorandum of understanding signed between the US and Iran in June.

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, warned that the US would face “unforgettable lessons” if its attacks continued. He dismissed Mr Trump’s signature on the collapsed ceasefire agreement as “worthless and invalid”.

Source:Telegraph