3 U.S. service members killed over weekend as strikes on Iran continue

The U.S. military conducted airstrikes on Iran for the ninth consecutive day Sunday concluding a bloody weekend that left three U.S. service members dead. On Sunday night, U.S. forces attacked Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks, according to a statement by U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM. The goal of the strikes was to cripple Iran's ability to attack vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to the statement. 

What about the service member deaths? Two U.S. service members died in Jordan Friday while responding to Iranian attacks involving ballistic missiles and drones, according to a statement by CENTCOM. Another U.S. soldier was reported missing. On Sunday, members of the military found remains at that same location and were working to identify them, according to CENTCOM.

Additionally, CENTCOM said a U.S. service member was killed on Saturday in an unrelated incident. That soldier died after what CENTCOM characterized as a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone. 

The latest casualties bring the total death toll of American soldiers in the conflict to 17. CENTCOM had not publicly identified any of the deceased soldiers as of Sunday evening.

What is Iran saying? In a Saturday statement reported by the Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA, a state-run Iranian news outlet, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Mojtaba Khamenei characterized the weekend U.S. airstrikes as examples of bullying, hegemony, and savagery. Referring to the United States as "the Great Satan," Khamenei said the now-defunct memorandum of understanding that previously outlined a temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran only served to demonstrate what he called the worthlessness of President Donald Trump's signature.