U.S. troops killed amid Iranian counterattack, fueling air defense fears

Three U.S. troops were killed and five others seriously wounded amid ongoing hostilities with Iran, military officials said Sunday, marking the first known American casualties in a military campaign that has heightened concern about the Pentagon’s ability to protect its personnel.

The casualties came as Iran retaliated against U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, throwing the future of the Islamic Republic into uncertainty and raising the risk of regional instability. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran continued for a second day on Sunday, with explosions reported in Tehran as Israel said it was taking its attacks to the “heart” of Iran’s capital.

Three U.S. troops were killed and five wounded in the Iranian counterattack, the first American casualties of the campaign. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial strikes, according to the source material. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israel, U.S. military installations, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard had threatened earlier Sunday to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever, targeting Israel and U.S. bases. The group followed through with attacks that spread beyond Iran and Israel across the Gulf region.

In the United Arab Emirates, shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on Abu Dhabi killed one person, state media reported. Loud booms were heard in parts of the capital, and some residents received phone alerts instructing them to shelter in the closest secure building. Bahrain reported a missile attack targeting the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, while witnesses heard sirens and explosions in Kuwait.

The death toll from an Israeli-U.S. strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran rose to at least 40, with 45 others wounded, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. The attack occurred in Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province, where Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard maintains a base.

President Donald Trump told The Atlantic in an interview Sunday that he planned to speak with Iran’s new leadership.

“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” Trump said, declining to comment on the timing.

In a video posted on social media, Trump justified the attacks and urged Iranians to take action.

“For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted Death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries,” Trump said. He added: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.”

Iran has selected a 66-year-old cleric to join a three-member leadership council that will govern the country until a new supreme leader is selected. The first strikes of the attack appeared to target the compound home to Khamenei in downtown Tehran, with smoke seen rising from the Iranian capital.

The conflict has raised concerns about Iran’s participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup in the United States. Iran is scheduled to play two World Cup games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle. Mehdi Taj, president of Iran’s soccer federation, told sports portal Varzesh3 that he wasn’t sure how it would be possible following the strikes.

“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Taj said.

Iran and the United States will hold new talks in Geneva on Thursday over Tehran’s nuclear program. The discussions come as the U.S. has assembled what sources described as the largest fleet of warplanes and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.