The United States has stepped up airstrikes against Iran, targeting key locations following the deaths of American soldiers in the region.
Published July 20, 2026
US President Donald Trump said Iran would “pay a price” for killing American soldiers after several soldiers were killed in fighting over the weekend.
“Every time Iran kills an American soldier, they will pay the price for that killing many times over!” President Trump said on social media on Monday. “This directive has been communicated to Secretary of the Army Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Daniel Kaine, and all military leaders. President Donald J. Trump.”
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
President Trump’s warning came after the United States launched airstrikes against Iran for the ninth night after announcing early Monday that a U.S. service member had been killed in a “controlled explosion” of an Iranian drone shot down in Iraq.
The U.S. military also identified two soldiers who died in Jordan on Friday while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Seventeen US soldiers have been killed since the start of the five-month war against Iran.
The new artillery war is now in its second week, with the US targeting Iranian bridges and power facilities as the two countries appear to be inching closer to a return to full-scale war. Iran retaliated on Monday with attacks on U.S. ally Kuwait and Bahrain, home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
Approximately 430 U.S. military personnel have been injured in the conflict so far.
The White House announced that President Trump will attend a dignified transfer ceremony for fallen service members at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.
It is unclear what specific “directives” President Trump issued to the Department of Defense. However, one US official told Reuters that before the deadly attack in Jordan, the US had already begun moving additional military aircraft to the Middle East, including fighter jets and refueling tankers.
President Trump last week expanded his attacks in Iran to include energy facilities and bridges, threatening to send ground forces to seize Iran’s oil hub on Kharg Island and bomb a deep underground nuclear site known as Pickaxe Mountain.
Sources told Reuters that the latest wave of US strikes against Iran aimed at forcing the Strait of Hormuz open also targets Iranian military capabilities that the US wants to destroy before carrying out more complex operations against the country.
The war, including its financial costs, will dominate Tuesday’s U.S. Congressional hearing between Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Kaine.
