🔻 Pentagon: Missing US service member in Jordan presumed dead 📌 Tehran, IRNA – The US Department of...

🔻 Pentagon: Missing US service member in Jordan presumed dead 📌 Tehran, IRNA – The US Department of War, the Pentagon, has said a third service member is presumed dead following an Iranian attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on July 17. The department said in a statement, carried by Al Jazeera, that the 28-year-old service member had previously been reported missing, but the soldier’s status has now been updated to “Duty Status–Whereabouts Unknown, believed deceased.” ​ The New York Times had earlier reported, citing US officials, that Iran’s Friday attack, which killed two US service members and left another missing, was the fourth attack targeting US forces in Jordan in five days. ​ The newspaper added that the attacks had wounded dozens of US service members and damaged several helicopters. ​ US officials who spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity said the frequency of the attacks and the resulting casualties indicated that Iranian forces still had large missile stockpiles and had become more adept at evading US air defense systems. ​ The officials also said Jordan, which hosts major US air bases, had become increasingly important in the days leading up to the war and during its early stages, after the Pentagon moved some of its forces from Bahrain, the UAE, and Qatar to locations it considered safer in Jordan and Israel. ​ They added that Jordan’s role in US operations had grown as other US allies in the region imposed restrictions on the deployment of American forces or the use of their airspace.