PRESIDENT Donald Trump has issued a furious warning that Iran will “pay many times over” for every American soldier it kills.
The threat came after the Pentagon named two young troops who died while defending a military base from an Iranian missile and drone attack.
The fallen troops were identified Monday as a 19-year-old private from Texas and a 25-year-old first lieutenant from Hawaii.
“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president said the directive had been passed to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Daniel Caine and “every Leader in the Military.”
Pvt. Isabella Gonzales and First Lt. Tyler James Feehan died following Friday’s attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, east of Amman, Jordan.
Gonzales was from Carrollton, Texas, while Feehan was from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, the Defense Department said.
The Pentagon did not release further details about the exact circumstances surrounding their deaths.
However, US Central Command said the two soldiers were killed while defending American and partner forces against Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
Feehan had been assigned to an Army missile defense command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Gonzales served with a missile defense command based in Ansbach, Germany.
Four other US service members were evacuated to hospitals in Jordan after the attack but have since been discharged.
A third soldier was initially listed as missing after the barrage.
CENTCOM said unidentified human remains were recovered Sunday from the site of the strike.
Examinations are underway to determine whether the remains belong to the missing service member.
Another American service member was killed Saturday in a separate incident in northern Iraq.
Officials said the soldier died during the “controlled detonation” of unexploded material from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.
A second service member suffered a minor injury and remained under medical care.
“Our hearts go out to these families,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Sunday.
“These are heroes that pay the ultimate price.”
The deaths came as the US carried out a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran and reportedly moved additional warplanes toward the Middle East.
F-16 fighter jets based in Germany and F-35 stealth jets stationed in Britain were being deployed to the region, officials told The New York Times.
CENTCOM said the latest operation targeted Iranian command centers, air defenses, coastal surveillance facilities, missile and drone launch sites, maritime assets and communications networks.
The latest casualties bring the number of American service members killed since the US and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28 to 17.
President Donald Trump said the latest wave of strikes against Iran was carried out in honor of the fallen troops.
“We feel very badly, but you know those great people, those great patriots, were out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said after returning from the World Cup final in New Jersey.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16718750/two-soldiers-killed-iranian-missile-attack-pentagon-names/