Another U.S. service member killed in Iran war; body found in Jordan
1 of 2 | An Iranian woman walks next to a huge anti-U.S. billboard featuring President Donald Trump in a coffin accompanied by a sentence in Persian that reads, ‘We kill Trump,’ at the Enghelab Square in Tehran on Wednesday. U.S. military officials on Sunday reported a third service member was killed in three days in the Iran conflict. Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
July 19 (UPI) — A U.S. service member was killed in the military action against Iran, officials confirmed Sunday, marking the third confirmed recent American casualty as fighting in the region continued to escalate.
Separately, the U.S. Central Command also announced that “unidentified remains” had been found at a base in Jordan where a service member had been been listed as missing following an Iranian attack on Friday.
Two other service members died in that same attack, bringing the total number of those killed since Friday to three.
CENTCOM said a U.S. service member in northern Iraq was killed in action on Saturday “during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.”
A second service member was wounded and continues to receive medical treatment for a minor injury, it said.
The three deaths bring the total number of U.S. service members killed in the Iran conflict to 17.
The latest casualties came as the United States and Iran traded tit-for-tat attacks on military targets and civilian infrastructure as they struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz, sparking widespread concerns the fighting will spiral into the wider region.
CENTCOM on Sunday said its forces “successfully hit Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities.”
Kuwait, meanwhile, claimed Iranian missiles struck a power station and two desalination plant, potentially affecting the country’s water supply, while Jordan and Bahrain also reported intercepting Iranian projectiles.
Also on Sunday, the United Nations’ nuclear energy agency said it’s investigating Iran’s allegation that the U.S. military struck a nuclear power plant under construction as part of renewed fighting after the deaths of two U.S. service members.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it reached out to the Iranian government about the reported attacks on the Darkhovin Power Plant in southern Iran on Sunday morning. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said U.S. forces hit the site, which was under construction.
“The facility is in the very early stages of construction and contained no nuclear material when last visited by the IAEA,” the agency said in a post on X.
“While the reported attack is not believed to pose any radiological risk, [IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi] reiterates call for military restraint in the vicinity of all nuclear-related sites.”
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization first began work on the Darkhovin Power Plant in 2022, but construction didn’t officially start until March 2026, CNN reported, citing the World Nuclear Association.
The U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, warned U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the international airport or seaport in Aqaba, and all military bases in Jordan. Jordan’s military said Sunday afternoon it intercepted three Iranian missiles, and a third landed in a remote area.
Aqaba is situated on Jordan’s southern coast, within a few miles of the border with Israel. The Israeli military warned of potential spillover of Iranian attacks into Israel, The Times of Israel reported Sunday morning.
“There may be spillover into Israeli territory as a result of the fire,” the military said.