Two US soldiers killed with third missing as Iran strikes base in Jordan

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

The US Central Command (Centom) said the attack happened overnight Friday at the base which involved Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.

The strikes have also left at least four others were also injured and were taken to Jordanian hospitals but have since been discharged.

The agency said: "Out of respect for the families, Centom will withhold additional information, including the identities of the fallen warriors, until 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified."

Read more: Trump blames Canada and threatens new tariffs after 'filthy' wildfire smoke drifts into US cities

Read more: At least 'eight dead and 62 injured' after Ukrainian drones strike Russian online retail warehouses

The deaths are the 15th and 16th among US service members since the war with Iran began in February, while some 430 have been wounded.

Authorities in Jordan have said it had intercepted ten missiles fired into its airspace overnight.

It comes as the US launched its seventh consecutive night of attacks on Iran as both sides targeted infrastructure with shipping in the Strait of Hormuz under further assault.

At sea, where the renewed conflict has again cut off energy supplies from the Gulf, U.S. Marines boarded a tanker near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian media reported, citing Iran's Revolutionary Guards, that two oil tankers exploded and caught fire after passing through a mined route south of the strait, but the U.S. military labeled the report as false.

Armed men seized another vessel off Yemen, raising concern over security in the Middle East's other big choke point for oil shipments at the mouth of the Red Sea.

Iran's state television quoted the Revolutionary Guards as saying that until U.S. "aggression" comes to an end, it will not be possible to export chemical fertilisers or even a "single drop of oil and gas" from the region.

The Revolutionary Guards later said four "violating" vessels that attempted to pass through the strait in recent hours were stopped through a combined missile and drone operation.

Washington and Tehran have been testing the limits of escalation since their ceasefire agreement collapsed last week, raising the prospect of a return to all-out war.

After reports of the escalation on Friday, benchmark Brent crude oil prices climbed 3% LCOc1 and were on track for a third consecutive weekly gain, putting political pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of November congressional elections.

Trump has threatened to launch broad-based air strikes on Iran's infrastructure and has also declined to rule out a ground assault on Iran's coast or islands. U.S. officials have said attacks on southern Iran are designed in part to give Trump options.

Such moves risk provoking Iran to hit the vital infrastructure of vulnerable Gulf states, or having its allies in Yemen further disrupt global energy supplies by attacking shipping from the Red Sea.

Iranian media reported enemy strikes early on Saturday in coastal Hormozgan Province on the Iranian side of the Strait of Hormuz.

State TV said three people were killed and eight wounded while two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged.Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, warned on Friday against U.S. escalation or any attempt to seize Iranian territory.

"If U.S. strikes continue for several more days, we will move into a phase of full-scale offensive operations," Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guards top commander, told state television.

Iranian state media earlier said at least five bridges were struck in the south in U.S. attacks early on Friday.

Seven people were reported killed in attacks on bridges in the southern port of Bandar Khamir, where the train station was also hit.

An airport was reported hit further east and away from the coast in Iranshahr, in a province bordering Pakistan.