Iran launched ballistic missile and drone attacks on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on July 17, killing two US service members and leaving another missing, officials said [1, 2, 3, 4]. The two killed soldiers were identified as 1st Lt. Tyler J. Feehan from Hawaii and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales from Texas, while Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton of North Carolina remained unaccounted for after the attack [3, 4]. The missile struck makeshift housing units where troops were sleeping, with multiple strikes hitting the base over 24 hours, including a gym and aircraft hangar [3].
The attacks were part of a wider Iranian assault on US and allied positions across Jordan, Kuwait, and the Gulf starting July 16-17, involving ballistic missiles and drones [1, 5, 6, 7, 3]. The conflict has centered around Iran’s bid to control the Strait of Hormuz, which it briefly closed earlier in the war that began on February 28, 2026 [1]. So far, 17 US service members have died and over 420 have been wounded in the fighting [2, 8, 5, 6, 9, 4].
On July 18, a fourth US service member was killed during a controlled detonation of unexploded Iranian drone ordnance in northern Iraq [9, 4]. The US responded to the missile strikes with multiple nights of airstrikes targeting Iranian coastal surveillance, air defense, missile, and drone facilities at President Donald Trump’s order [2, 8, 5, 6, 9]. Trump warned, "Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!" and said, "We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the probably three – it's probably three as opposed to two great patriots." [3, 4]
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei vowed further escalation, saying the US "should know that the noble nation of Iran and the Resistance Front have unforgettable lessons in store for it." [2]
The US military identified the two soldiers killed and the missing troop by July 19, and the strikes on Iran marked the eighth consecutive night of US attacks as of July 18 [3, 4, 5, 6, 9]. Additional US warplanes including F-35s and F-16s had been deployed to the Middle East prior to the escalation [9].
The conflict continues to escalate with no immediate end in sight following the missile strike and subsequent US retaliation.
