WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military announced an American service member has died of injuries sustained during an Iranian attack on troops stationed in Saudi Arabia.
The seventh American service member killed in the Iran war was an Army soldier, a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to The Associated Press.
The service member died on Saturday from injuries sustained during a March 1 Iranian attack on the kingdom
The American death toll since the start of combat operations now stands at seven. Six Army reservists were also killed in the March 1 attack on Kuwait.
All seven casualties from the war in Iran were Army soldiers. The first six deaths were Army reservists killed in a March 1 attack on a command center in a Kuwaiti port.
Escalating conflict
The Iran war’s targets widened dangerously into civilian infrastructure Sunday as Bahrain accused Iran of striking one of the desalination plants that are crucial for Gulf nations’ drinking water. Oil depots smoldered in Tehran after Israeli strikes, prompting environmental warnings.
In a sign of rising anger in the region, the Arab League chief lashed out at Iran for its “reckless policy” of attacking its neighbors. Gulf countries have already been struck by hundreds of missiles and drones, and Iran’s president vowed to expand attacks on U.S. targets on the ninth day of the war.
Saudi Arabia reported its first deaths, saying a military projectile fell onto a residential area and killed two people of Indian and Bangladeshi nationality. It said 12 other Bangladeshis were wounded. Foreign residents and workers have made up most of the war’s deaths in Gulf nations.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have vowed to press ahead with the coordinated campaign against Iran, even as Washington’s stated war aims have varied. Trump told ABC News he wants a say in who comes to power in Iran once the war is over, adding that new leader “is not going to last long” without his approval.
In Israel, the military reported the first soldier deaths since the war began, saying two were killed in southern Lebanon while Israel targets the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Three people were injured in Israel in an afternoon strike.
The war, which Israel and the United States launched with airstrikes on Feb. 28 that killed Iran’s supreme leader, has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and at least 11 in Israel, according to officials.
The conflict has rattled global markets, disrupted air travel and left Iran’s leadership weakened by several thousand Israeli and U.S. airstrikes.
