US announces another troop death as Iran conflict threatens to widen
An Iranian woman walks past an anti-US banner in Tehran on July 19, 2026. The United States said airstrikes on July 19 aimed to "punish" Iran over the first US military deaths since renewed hostilities with the Islamic republic. (Photo by ATTA KENARE
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The United States announced the death of another service member Sunday as it launched a new wave of airstrikes against Iran in retaliation for the killing of U.S. troops, while Iran fired missiles toward Jordan, raising fears the conflict could spread further across the region and draw neighboring Israel deeper into the fighting.
Dig deeper:
Step by step, the U.S. and Iran have returned closer to all-out war as last month's interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.
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What they're saying:
The U.S. military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the "controlled detonation" of a downed Iranian drone.
US strikes Iran after service members killed
The U.S. launched a new round of strikes against Iran Saturday after two U.S. service members were killed in Jordan during an Iranian missile attack. One service member is still missing.
Big picture view:
Earlier, the military said its strikes targeted Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to retaliate for Friday's killing of troops in Jordan. One service member was missing after that attack, and the military's new statement said "unidentified remains" were found Sunday and were being examined. Since the war began, 17 U.S. service members have been killed.
The renewed exchanges of fire, now in their second week, have seen the U.S. target bridges, water desalination plants and electrical facilities in Iran. Tehran has hit U.S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East.
Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain again activated air defenses for incoming Iranian drones and missiles. Israel warned that missiles launched toward neighboring Jordan could cause fire to spill over into Israeli territory for the first time in weeks.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story came from official statements released by the U.S. military, including updates from U.S. Central Command on military operations and troop casualties. Additional details about the broader conflict, regional security developments and military activity in Jordan, Iraq and Iran were reported by The Associated Press, based on information from U.S. and regional officials. This story was reported from Los Angeles.