U.S. vows to "swiftly punish" Iran as at least 3 troops killed

The State Department announced Monday that the first "pilot zones" had been launched in Lebanon, suggesting that Israeli forces had or would soon withdraw from three villages in the south of the neighboring country, though no such moves were immediately confirmed by Israel. 

As part of a deal signed at the State Department between Israel and Lebanon in late June, Israeli forces are to withdraw from "pilot zones" in Lebanon and be replaced by Lebanese forces. The agreement also calls for the "disarmament of non-state armed groups" in the designated zones – a reference to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. 

Hezbollah has flatly refused calls to disarm, and Israel has said it will only fully withdraw when it is sure the Iranian proxy group no longer poses a threat to its territory. 

Nonetheless, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement Monday that "pilot zone operations began in the villages of Froun, Srifa, and Zawtar Al-Gharbiya," calling it a "milestone" and "a direct outcome of last week's discussions between Israel and Lebanon in Rome."

Israel's military has for months occupied what it calls a "security zone" that extends about six miles into Lebanon, along the length of the two countries' shared border. Israeli officials say it's necessary to protect residents in Israel's north from Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks. 

More than 4,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel's war against Hezbollah, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that he expects Lebanon's President Michel Aoun to have a "very positive meeting" with President Trump Tuesday when they meet at the White House.

The U.S. military has released a photo of one of the soldiers killed in Jordan over the weekend, 19-year-old Army Pvt. Isabella Gonzales of Carrollton, Texas.

Gonzales was killed Friday during an Iranian attack on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. A second soldier, 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, died Saturday, officials said. A third remains listed by the military as missing in action.

Pvt. Isabella Gonzales U.S. Army

The Pentagon said Gonzales was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air Missile Defense Command, in Ansbach, Germany.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote, "Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve."

Another U.S. service member died in a separate incident in northern Iraq during a controlled explosion to destroy an Iranian drone, Central Command said.

Following the Iranian attack on the base in Jordan, U.S. forces launched a new round of airstrikes against Iran at the direction of President Trump, CENTCOM said Saturday evening.

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Iran said on Monday that diplomatic exchanges with the United States were ongoing, via mediators, despite an escalating exchange of fire between the countries.

"We have been informed by mediators, we have received messages – without going into details – but the main point is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said during a press briefing Monday in Tehran.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that Iran, "directly and through multiple channels," had continued signaling to the U.S. that "they want to talk."

He said a return to diplomacy would be "very positive," but added: "That's not where we are tonight, unfortunately."

CBS/AFP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the Iranian regime has been "directly and through multiple channels" signaling to the U.S. that "they want to talk" despite escalating attacks by both sides over the last week.

Rubio told journalists the U.S. "always remains open to a diplomatic solution … and they continue to send signals that they want to talk, that they want to negotiate, but their behavior is what we're responding to."

He said Iran was giving those indications "directly and through multiple channels with other countries as well, adding that a return to diplomacy would be "a very positive development," but "that's not where we are tonight, unfortunately."

Asked if the memorandum of understanding between the two countries was dead, Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz was supposed to have been "free of tolls, free of attacks, free of all the things they're doing against these ships," referring to recent Iranian attacks on ships in the waterway. "You can't have an MoU that's alive if they're violating the terms of it."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that "the only reason" the U.S. is attacking Iran is because of the Islamic Republic's attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. 

"The only reason why the U.S. is conducting strikes is against assets of Iran that are being used to attack global commercial shipping," he told reporters. 

"The Straits of Hormuz are an international waterway, and they continue to launch against ships in that international waterway," he added. "The United States is involved not just in protecting those ships but in targeting the places that they use to launch these missiles and drones."

"That's what you're seeing. That's what the objective of this mission is," he said. "Their behavior has to change in order for ours to change."

The U.S. has conducted nine straight nights of attacks on Iran.

Iran's powerful allies in Yemen, the Houthi rebels, announced Monday that they would impose a naval blockade of neighboring Saudi Arabia in retaliation for a recent attack on Sanaa airport.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces announce a ban on maritime navigation for the criminal Saudi enemy," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said, according to the Houthi-owned Almasirah news outlet, adding that it would "come into effect from the moment this statement is announced."

His statement did not explain how the blockade would work, but the Houthis have previously attacked ships in the region.

Saree's remarks came after a fiery exchange between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen's government last week, during which Saudi forces struck Sanaa International Airport, which has been under Houthi control for more than a decade, and the Houthis attacked Abha airport in Saudi Arabia. The clash threatens a truce that has been in place since 2022.

The blockade announced by the Houthis could put new pressure on Saudi Arabia, as it has been using its East-West Pipeline to get oil out of the kingdom amid the ongoing default closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. The pipeline moves oil to Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports, where it is loaded on tankers and distributed around the world.

The Houthi threat to prevent Saudi oil shipments comes after the rebels targeted ships for months in the Red Sea region in response to Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. During that conflict Houthi weapons targeted about 100 vessels in the Red Sea and around the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the southern entrance to the sea.

A map shows major routes for energy resources and other trade from the Middle East to Asia, including the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Strait of Hormuz. Getty/iStockphoto

Iran has warned multiple times during the war that it could order its Houthi allies to shut down the Bab el-Mandeb if the U.S. attacked civilian energy infrastructure. About 10% of global oil shipments typically traverse the strait, making it another key chokepoint for energy markets like the Strait of Hormuz.

CBS/AP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave some details on the incidents that led to the deaths of at least three U.S. service members in Jordan and Iraq over the weekend.

In remarks to reporters before he departed for the Philippines on Sunday night, Rubio said "a missile got through" to hit the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, where two U.S. soldiers were killed Friday. Another soldier remains missing after the Iranian attack - one of several targeting the base in recent days, 

"We shot down almost all the missiles," he said. "One leaked through, hit the wrong place, and tragically, and it's heartbreaking."

Video of the attack in Jordan appears to show that it came with little or no warning, with shocked military personnel scrambling to get to shelters.

Four Iranian attacks in five days aimed at U.S. forces – including two direct hits on the air base in Jordan  - wounded dozens of American service members, raising questions about whether missile defense systems either failed to intercept them or failed to spot them coming.

The U.S. military confirmed Sunday that another U.S. service member was killed in northern Iraq, during a controlled explosion to destroy an Iranian attack drone.

"They were decommissioning ammunition and an accident happened in that process and they were harmed," Rubio said. "We're just grateful to have such heroic Americans in uniform in service of our country."  

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that his country was in a "full-scale war" with the United States and he warned Iranians that they would have to accept the repercussions of the conflict.

"The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war," Pezeshkian said, adding that "we must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance," according to a statement issued by the presidency.

Iran killed at least two U.S. soldiers over the weekend in an attack on an American air base in Jordan, while another American service member died in Iraq during the controlled explosion of an Iranian drone, U.S. Central Command said. 

The U.S. has carried out nine straight nights of attacks on Iran.

CBS/AFP

The U.S. military has identified two soldiers killed in an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.

The two soldiers were named as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, who was killed Saturday, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, who was killed Friday.

Both were stationed at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. The U.S. military is investigating the incidents.

Both soldiers were part of U.S. Army air defense artillery regiments. Feehan was based in North Carolina, and Gonzales was based in Germany.

Another soldier has been declared missing after the strikes in Jordan. Remains have been found at the base but have yet to be identified.

A third U.S. service member was declared dead in northern Iraq Sunday after a controlled detonation of an Iranian attack drone, according to the U.S. military.

At least three U.S. servicemembers were killed over the weekend in Iranian attacks, 

A third American soldier in northern Iraq died following "a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone," CENTCOM said in a statement.

The first two were killed in a strike on a U.S. air base in Jordan. Remains have been found after another soldier at the base was declared missing after the attack, but they have yet to be identified.

Video of the precision ballistic missile attack in Jordan suggests it came with little or no warning, with shocked military personnel scrambling to get to shelters.

The missile and drone barrage was the second time in two days Iran managed to launch a direct hit on the base. In total, four Iranian attacks in five days targeting U.S. forces in Jordan have left dozens wounded, raising questions about whether missile defense systems either failed to intercept them or failed to see them coming.

CENTCOM vowed over the weekend to "swiftly punish" Iran for strikes on Jordan.

President Trump has paid tribute to the fallen on Sunday.

"Well, we feel very badly," he said. 

"But, you know, those great people, those great patriots who are there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," he added, though recent U.S. airstrikes have been focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, not dismantling Iran's nuclear program.

The U.S. military has been sending more assets – such as aerial refuelers – to the region, and the deaths of the first U.S. troops in months appears to suggest that the U.S. military response is going to escalate.

Sailors safely abandoned a vessel set alight by an attack in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations agency said Monday, as the United States and Iran vie for control over the vital waterway.

"The vessel was struck by an unknown projectile. The crew safely abandoned the vessel and have been recovered by a tug boat. The fire has not been extinguished and the vessel is currently adrift. There is no reported environmental impact," UKMTO said in an update to an earlier statement.

The agency, which is run by the British military, had reported the ship was "on fire" eight nautical miles northwest of Kumzar, Oman.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guards said that two oil tankers trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz "exploded and were brought to a halt."

During the war, Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz through which one-fifth of the world's oil and LNG used to pass.

As part of a memorandum of understanding signed with the United States, it has to work with Oman on the waterway's future administration -- which it has vowed will never be the same.

In recent weeks, Iran has hit tankers using a route hugging the Omani coast to traverse the strait, in a bid to strongarm vessels into using its own waters and to pay for safe passage.

CBS/AFP

The U.S. completed a ninth straight night of strikes against Iran at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, U.S. Central Command said. 

A screengrab from a U.S. Central Command handout video allegedly showing the ninth consecutive evening of U.S. strikes on Iranian positions, on July 19. U.S. Central Command

"CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further diminish Iran's ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz," the military said.

CENTCOM announced Sunday that unidentified remains were found in Jordan at the location of an Iranian strike that killed two U.S. service members and left another missing. 

"An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing," the U.S. military said.

U.S. gas prices jumped to an average of $4 a gallon again Monday as the U.S. and Iran launched more attacks.

According to motor club federation AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is now back to $4. The average price a year ago was $3.14 a gallon.

The price is a national average, meaning drivers in some states have been paying well over $4 a gallon for a while now, while others pay less. Prices vary between states due to factors ranging from nearby supply to differing tax rates.

People around the world are also dealing with high gas prices as a result of the war.

Gas prices first went over $4 a gallon on average at the end of March. They dipped below that in mid-June and continued to fall as crude oil prices eased when the U.S. and Iran reached an interim deal. Even then, President Trump expressed frustration that gas prices weren't falling as quickly as oil prices.

Oil prices have climbed again in recent days as the U.S. and Iran appear to be moving closer to resuming an all-out war.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.2% to $90.95 per barrel Monday and benchmark U.S. crude climbed 2.8% to $84.04 per barrel.

AP

Israel's military said debris from Iranian missiles launched at the Jordanian city of Aqba, which were intercepted by Jordanian forces, was also intercepted by Israeli interceptors to prevent the objects impacting Israeli territory. 

The Iranian missile salvo was aimed at Aqaba on Sunday, the Israeli military said, after Amman denied the city's airport and seaport were evacuated over a threat.

Minutes before the interception, the Israeli military said it had detected missiles launched from Iran towards Aqaba and warned of the possibility of "spillover" into Israeli territory.

The Jordanian military said it had downed "three Iranian missiles that targeted the kingdom's territory," while a fourth fell in a deserted area, without specifying where.

Air raid sirens were also activated in the Jordanian capital, Amman, and other parts of the kingdom.

However, the Jordanian government had earlier denied reports that authorities ordered the evacuation of Aqaba's airport and seaport, after the U.S. embassy said they had been evacuated over a "credible threat."

CBS/AFP

The Iranian missile and drone attack that killed at least two U.S. service members on Friday occurred at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News. 

The location of the strike was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. 

A third soldier remains missing in action following the Iranian strike, U.S. Central Command previously reported, and four other soldiers were treated and released from a hospital in Jordan. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reacted to the deaths of two U.S. service members in Jordan following Iranian strikes overnight, saying Saturday in a social media post, "Godspeed, heroes."

"Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve," Hegseth said on X.

Two U.S. service members were killed in a strike on a base in Jordan overnight, according to U.S. Central Command. A third service member is missing in action, CENTCOM said.

Four other U.S. service members were medically evacuated to hospital in Jordan, and have since been discharged. There were other service members treated for minor injuries, CENTCOM said.

The deaths were the 15th and 16th among U.S. service members in the current war with Iran. Six service members were killed in an Iranian attack on a base in Kuwait in March. Also in March, six were killed when a refueling plane crashed in Iraq and one was killed in an Iranian strike on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

In the most recent death, a U.S. Navy pilot died when his MH-60S helicopter made an emergency landing at sea last month.