On July 20 local time, U.S. President Trump posted on social media, saying, "Whenever Iran kills a U.S. soldier, they will pay a multiple of the cost."
He stated that this directive has been communicated to U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Casey, and all military leaders.
According to CBS, on the 20th, the White House announced that Trump would attend the ceremony to hand over the remains of fallen soldiers.
On July 19th, the U.S. Central Command posted a statement on social media, stating that on the 18th, two American soldiers were killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan, and another soldier is missing. After thorough search efforts, the U.S. military discovered unidentified remains at the scene earlier on July 19th. Currently, identification and verification procedures are underway.
In addition, the U.S. Central Command stated that on the 18th, a U.S. military personnel was killed while serving in northern Iraq. The incident occurred when an Iranian unidirectional attack drone was shot down, and unexploded munitions from the drone were controlled detonated. Another U.S. military personnel was injured and is currently receiving treatment for minor injuries.
On July 19th, Trump stated that the U.S. military's new aggressive strike against Iran was in honor of three U.S. service members who died in the Middle East.
However, the Trump administration has not completely ruled out the possibility of seeking diplomatic solutions. According to CNN, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said to reporters on July 19, "The United States remains open to diplomatic solutions. We have tried several times with Iran, and we will continue to do so in the future."
According to CBS's report on July 20th, U.S. officials said that several air strikes by Iran against U.S. military bases in the Middle East this month have resulted in nearly 100 U.S. military personnel being injured.
The Pentagon spokesman Sean Pennelly confirmed that since July 7, nearly 100 U.S. military personnel have been identified as having suffered varying degrees of injuries, and 96% of them have returned to their posts.
Panier said: “They are determined to return to combat. The majority of their injuries are minor concussions.”
