Two United States service members were killed and one is missing in action after Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks struck US and partner forces at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Azraq, Jordan, on Friday, 17 July, US Central Command announced. Four additional personnel were injured in the attack, medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals, and have since been discharged. Personnel evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty. CENTCOM said it would withhold the identities of the fallen until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.
The deaths are the first US military fatalities from direct Iranian fire since March, bringing the total number of American service members killed since the conflict began to 16, with more than 430 wounded [Source: Associated Press]. More than 50,000 US military personnel are currently deployed across the Middle East, according to CENTCOM. Jordan's military separately said it intercepted 10 Iranian missiles fired into its airspace overnight into Saturday.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state television that Tehran is suspending its commitments to its memorandum of understanding with the United States, accusing Washington of violating the terms of the deal. In a Saturday statement, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said the US violation of the memorandum proved the 'worthlessness and invalidity' of President Donald Trump's signature and warned of heavy repercussions for the US [Source: Al Jazeera].
The strike on Muwaffaq Salti is not the first time the base has been targeted in the current conflict. Iran destroyed an AN/TPY-2 THAAD radar at the facility in the opening days of the war, according to a US official cited by Bloomberg. The Royal Jordanian Air Force base in Zarqa Governorate has hosted deployed US aircraft since operations against ISIS.
WTI advanced 4.4% on 8 July 2026, its biggest daily gain since 1 June 2026, after President Trump said a ceasefire with Iran was over and threatened to reimpose a US naval blockade. Brent settled up 5.4% in the same session, its largest daily gain since 4 May 2026 [Source: CNBC]. Oil prices are approximately 9% higher than before the start of the Iran war in late February [Source: Al Jazeera]. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed materially as the security situation has deteriorated; just six vessels were tracked crossing the strait between 18:00 GMT Thursday and 06:00 GMT Friday, compared with 18 to 22 daily crossings earlier in July, according to maritime tracker Windward. The strait handled roughly 130 vessels per day before the start of the war, when it served as a conduit for one-fifth of global oil trade. Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates said the oil market is not pricing in a full closure of Hormuz [Source: CNBC].
Sources: Bloomberg, CNN, BBC News, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, CNBC, CBS News