US strikes Iran after attack kills American soldiers in Jordan
The United States military carried out new airstrikes against Iran early on Sunday, July 19, 2026, in response to an attack in Jordan that killed two American service members and wounded several others. The strikes targeted an area near Sirik on the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency.
The US Central Command stated that the strikes aimed to further degrade Iran's ability to restrict oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that before the war handled about 20% of global oil supplies. The action followed the first US troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the early days of the conflict, after a drone and missile attack on a base in Jordan on Friday, July 17.
Since the war began, 16 US service members have been killed and over 430 wounded. The identities of the latest deceased have not been released, and Central Command declined to provide further details.
In neighbouring Iraq, a drone strike early Sunday hit a base of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, an Iranian Kurdish dissident group, near Irbil, wounding eight members, according to a military official with the group. Residents of Irbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, reported hearing explosions from air defences. The attack was the latest in a series of drone strikes over the past four days, coinciding with a visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to Washington and escalating US-Iran tensions. No group has claimed responsibility, but both Iran and Iran-backed Iraqi militias have previously targeted the Kurdish region, where US troops and Kurdish Iranian dissident groups are present.
Earlier on Saturday, July 18, Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a warning of 'unforgettable lessons' if the US continues attacking the Islamic Republic. In remarks read on state TV, he also called US President Donald Trump's signature 'worthless and invalid.' Subsequently, an Iranian negotiator announced that Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim deal signed about a month ago aimed at permanently ending the fighting.
The war, which has focused on control of the Strait of Hormuz, shows no sign of abating. The widening strikes now threaten civilians and infrastructure, including desalination plants for drinking water. The US has issued a global travel alert over the rising tensions.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, told state TV that the US had violated its commitments under the deal and that Iran was 'no longer implementing them.' There was no new word on mediation efforts.
Earlier this month, a US helicopter pilot was killed when the helicopter crashed in the Arabian Sea. In the early stages of the war, an Iranian drone strike on a command centre in Kuwait killed six soldiers. One soldier died after an attack on a base in Saudi Arabia. Six were killed when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq.
On Saturday, the most significant damage from Iranian strikes occurred in Kuwait, where a water desalination plant and an oil facility were hit, according to Kuwaiti authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Both declined to provide locations.
