Dramatic video footage captured the precise moment that the Iranian missiles hit Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Airbase, killing two US soldiers and injuring four others, as the hostilities between the Iranian and the American forces in the Middle East intensified. The strikes came shortly after Iran’s newly installed supreme leader warned in an address that Washington “would pay for seeking to escalate the conflict” as US strikes for the seventh consecutive night unleashed devastation in the region since an interim ceasefire deal faltered.
US Central Command, in a statement published, confirmed that at least two US service members were killed and a third remains missing after Iranian ballistic missiles struck an airbase in Jordan that has been hosting American troops and fighter jets. This marks the first direct American combat deaths in the war since March and pushes an already fragile Middle East ceasefire further toward collapse.
Footage of the Iranian ballistic missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan last night.
At least two missiles hit the base, killing two American service members. pic.twitter.com/8tOm6yyXwe
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) July 18, 2026
Just a day earlier, the US Central Command said that the US and partner coalition forces defended the bases against the barrage of Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks in Jordan. “On July 17, two US service members in Jordan were killed in action as US Central Command and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks,” Centcom said in a statement posted to social media.
“Additionally, one service member is currently missing in action.” Four other American troops were medically evacuated to hospitals in Jordan but have since been discharged, the command said, while additional personnel who sustained minor injuries have already returned to duty. Centcom said it would withhold the identities of the fallen service members until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.
Godspeed, heroes.
Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve. https://t.co/GIcfNdAol0
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) July 18, 2026
Moment Of Impact At Muwaffaq Salti Air Base
At least two Iranian ballistic missiles struck the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Saturday, a facility that hosts US troops and fighter jets, according to officials briefed on the attack. Videos circulating on social media showed the moment of impact of both missiles, followed by heavy plumes of smoke rising over the base.
The strike marks the first time US troops have been killed in the conflict since fighting resumed roughly two weeks ago, and raises the total number of American service members killed since the war began to 16.
A Ceasefire That Has Repeatedly Collapsed
Saturday’s deaths came amid what Reuters described as a seventh consecutive night of US strikes on Iranian military sites, including logistics infrastructure, one week after a fragile ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran fell apart.
Iran responded by launching renewed attacks on American allies across the Gulf, with both sides also targeting shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. The United States said it was enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian vessels, while Tehran said it was targeting ships that violated its own rules for navigating the strait.
Iranian state media reported that strikes early Saturday in the coastal Hormozgan Province killed three people and wounded eight, damaging two bridges and a road tunnel, following earlier Iranian reports that US attacks a day prior had hit at least five bridges in southern Iran, killing seven people in the port city of Bandar Khamir and striking a train station and an airport further inland in Iranshahr.
The current round of hostilities represents the latest breakdown in a cycle of ceasefires and resumed fighting that has defined the war since it began on February 28, when Iran launched a series of drone and missile strikes against American and allied military facilities across the Middle East.
An interim peace agreement reached after 60 days of negotiations had sought to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the conflict, but that arrangement collapsed roughly a week before Saturday’s strikes, casting further doubt over whether any durable de-escalation remains achievable.
US officials have said recent strikes on southern Iranian infrastructure were designed in part to expand US President Trump’s range of options, even as such moves risk provoking Iran to strike vulnerable Gulf state infrastructure or encourage its regional allies to further disrupt global shipping.
Oil Markets Feel The Strain
The renewed fighting has rattled global energy markets. Oil prices climbed more than 4 per cent on Friday to their highest level in more than a month, adding political pressure on US President Trump as his party seeks to defend its congressional majorities in November’s midterm elections.
International benchmark Brent crude had already advanced sharply earlier in the week as the exchange of attacks and counterattacks renewed fears of further disruption to Hormuz shipping traffic, with West Texas Intermediate futures climbing in tandem. Analysts have repeatedly warned that any sustained closure or slowdown of traffic through the strait would ripple through global fuel prices well beyond the region.
Tehran’s Defiant Response
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a written statement following the Jordan strikes accusing Washington of repeated bad faith. He said US President Trump’s signature was “worthless and invalid,” accusing the United States of “repeated breaches of agreements” with Tehran.
The statement underscored the collapse of trust between the two governments following the failed ceasefire, even as both sides have at various points in the conflict signalled openness to renewed negotiations.
A War That Has Already Claimed American Lives
Saturday’s deaths add to a mounting toll of US casualties since the war began. In March, six American service members were killed in a single incident when an Iranian strike hit a fortified tactical operations centre at Shuaiba port in Kuwait, an attack that also seriously wounded 18 other US personnel, according to figures cited at the time by Centcom spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said at the time that the facility had been struck by a single projectile that penetrated otherwise fortified defences. Coalition partners have also suffered losses over the course of the conflict, including Kuwaiti sailors killed in the line of duty and Canadian forces sheltering from missile strikes at bases within Kuwait.
With the ceasefire in tatters and both sides continuing nightly exchanges of fire, the conflict shows little sign of nearing resolution. US President Trump has previously threatened broader air strikes on Iranian infrastructure and has declined to rule out a ground assault on Iran’s coastline or islands, while Tehran continues to signal it will meet renewed American strikes with retaliation against US bases and allied shipping across the Gulf. For now, Saturday’s deaths in Jordan stand as the clearest sign yet that a war many hoped had been contained by earlier ceasefire efforts is instead entering a more dangerous and unpredictable phase.
