U.S. Expands Iran Strikes After Troop Deaths as Israel Warns of Spillover
The United States launched new strikes against Iran after the deaths of American service members, escalating a conflict that is now drawing in U.S.-allied Gulf states and raising new warnings from Israel.
AP reported that U.S. forces targeted Iran’s Revolutionary Guard after American troops were killed in Jordan and another service member died in Iraq during a controlled detonation involving a downed Iranian drone. Central Command said the latest strikes hit command centers, air defenses, coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks.
Reuters reported that the U.S. described the strikes as an effort to punish the forces behind attacks on American troops and degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway is central to global oil movement, making the conflict both a military and economic risk.
Israel’s military warned that Iranian missiles launched toward Aqaba in Jordan could spill over into Israeli territory, with Eilat officials saying interceptors were launched to prevent debris from falling near the border city.
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The public reaction is sharpening. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted that the service members’ deaths stiffened U.S. resolve. President Trump pushed Congress on Truth Social to add Iran to pending sanctions legislation. Sen. Tim Kaine criticized the war on X, while Sen. Mark Warner called it a war of choice and warned it could become a continuing disaster.
Iran said a planned nuclear power plant site was struck, but the IAEA said the location was in very early construction and contained no nuclear material when last visited.
The next question is whether the latest round of strikes deters further attacks or pushes the conflict into a broader regional war.
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