US expands strikes on Iran as troops die, Gulf states hit

Two American service members were killed and four others were medically evacuated after Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks on a base in Jordan, and Washington answered by widening airstrikes on Iran while Tehran targeted Gulf states. The exchange of fire threatened an interim deal and pushed the conflict beyond a direct U.S.-Iran clash.

Reuters said the United States renewed strikes after the two military personnel were killed, and AP reported that the campaign expanded to bridges and a tower at a key Iranian port. AP also said the U.S. struck Iranian Revolutionary Guard targets in retaliation for the attack that killed the American troops, a sign that the response was widening from one base attack to a broader campaign against Iranian military infrastructure.

Iranian retaliation then reached the Gulf. AP reported that strikes damaged a power and water desalination plant in Kuwait, and another result said the plant suffered widespread damage. The damage carries outsized weight in a region that depends on desalination for drinking water: about 90% of Kuwait’s supply comes from desalination, along with about 86% in Oman and about 70% in Saudi Arabia.

The risk now extends beyond troop casualties to energy and shipping. Any further spread toward the Strait of Hormuz would threaten a chokepoint for Gulf oil exports, while Iranian attacks have already hit Middle East countries where U.S. troops are deployed, as well as Israel. Al Jazeera’s tracker put preliminary deaths at 3,468 in Iran, 3,371 in Lebanon and 28 in Gulf states, underscoring how quickly the fighting has spread across the region.

For Donald Trump, the escalation carries immediate military and political consequences: more American troops are in range, Gulf infrastructure is exposed, and the legal question of how far U.S. strikes can extend without fresh authority from Congress will sharpen as the campaign grows.