An Iranian strike injured 12 U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, two of them seriously, in an attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, two U.S. officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said on Friday.
The combined missile and drone attack amounted to one of the most serious breaches of American air defenses in the course of the monthlong war with Iran. At least two KC-135 aerial refueling planes also suffered significant damage in the attack.
The strike comes as President Trump has vacillated between promising peace and escalating strikes aimed at critical civilian infrastructure. The president has said that peace talks are underway, and going well — a claim that Iranian officials have disputed — even as more warships and thousands of troops have been deployed to reinforce U.S. forces in the region.
Iran has bombed U.S. bases across the Middle East over the course of the war, deploying a vast arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones in an effort to retaliate and disrupt the American bombing campaign. The barrage has severely damaged bases and forced U.S. Central Command to disperse thousands of troops to move them out of the line of fire — some to as far away as Europe.
Most Iranian strikes have been intercepted by U.S. and allied air defenses, but weapons like Iran’s Shahed drones are cheap and disposable, and many of the defensive systems used to intercept them are more sophisticated and harder to replace.
U.S. troops have also been injured, and some killed, in incidents where Iranian attacks have overwhelmed those defense networks. Six U.S. Army reservists were killed at the start of the war in an Iranian drone strike that destroyed an Army tactical operations center at Shuaiba port in Kuwait. Another American service member died after an attack at the Prince Sultan base on March 1.
Nearly 300 American troops have been injured since the start of the war, about 225 of whom suffered traumatic brain injuries from missile blasts, according to U.S. Central Command. All but about 35 service members have since returned to duty.
The vast majority of deaths and injuries reported so far have been in Iran, which has been under relentless attack by the U.S. and Israeli militaries, and Lebanon, which is being bombarded by Israel in response to rocket attacks by Hezbollah.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported that more than 1,492 civilians have been killed in Iran, out of more than 3,300 total deaths. More than 1,110 people in Lebanon have been killed, the health ministry there said on Thursday. More than 50 people have been killed in Gulf countries and at least 16 in Iranian attacks on Israel, officials said. The American death toll stands at 13 service members.
Mr. Trump had vowed earlier this week to bomb power plants in Iran if Tehran did not quickly capitulate. He has extended that deadline twice, now giving Iran until the evening of April 6 to seal a deal.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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