‘Will pay many times over’: Trump warns Iran after US troop deaths in Jordan

US President Donald Trump on Monday warned that Iran would face a heavy response for every American soldier killed, following the deaths of two US service members in an Iranian missile and drone attack in Jordan.In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had directed secretary of defense Pete Hegseth, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff gen. Daniel Caine and other military leaders to ensure a harsher response.“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military,” Trump said.The remarks came after two US service members were killed and another remained missing following an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on a military base in Jordan, marking the first American troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war.The US military said the troops were killed on Friday while US and partner forces were defending the base against the Iranian attack. Four other service members who were medically evacuated to hospitals in Jordan have since been discharged.The Pentagon identified the two personnel killed as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. They had been deployed in support of the US mission against the Islamic State group.According to the US military, 17 American service members have been killed since the war with Iran began.Meanwhile, the US military’s Central Command on Monday said its ninth straight night of airstrikes targeted “Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and communications networks.”Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that the American strikes killed at least one person around Tabriz, a northwestern city about 520 kilometers (325 miles) from the capital, Tehran. Tabriz is believed to host underground missile bases run by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.US strikes likely also hit Bandar Imam Khomeini in Khuzestan province, Sirik and Jask in Hormozgan province and Konarak and Chahbahar in Sistan and Baluchistan province, IRNA reported.The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said Monday evening that a second ship had been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, this one off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.