Pentagon identifies first US soldiers killed in Iran war

The U.S. military on Tuesday identified four of the first American soldiers killed in the war against Iran as the Trump administration warned the intensifying conflict would lead to more American casualties.

Among six U.S. military deaths so far, the four soldiers were members of an Iowa unit of the U.S. Army Reserve. They died on Sunday when a drone slammed into a U.S. military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

The Pentagon said four ranged in age from 20 to 42 and served in the 103rd Sustainment Command from Des Moines, Iowa, part of the army's global logistics and supply operation.

The military identified the four U.S. Army Reserve soldiers, as:

* Captain Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida.

* Sargeant 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska

* Sargeant 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota

* Sargeant Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa

Major General Todd Erskine, who leads the 79th Theater Sustainment Command, in a statement extended "my deepest sympathy and my respect" to relatives and unit members of the four.

President Donald Trump and other senior officials have warned the Iran conflict will result in more U.S. military deaths as Tehran retaliates against U.S. and Israeli strikes.

The U.S. military's Central Command said on Tuesday that Iran has launched over 500 ballistic missiles and over 2,000 drones in its retaliatory attacks throughout the Middle East so far.

The risks to U.S. forces in the Middle East came up during a closed-door briefing to lawmakers on Tuesday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"They told us in that room that there are going to be more Americans that are gonna die -- that they are not ... going to be able to stop these drones," Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, said.

The facility in Kuwait where the four deaths occurred was protected by concrete blast walls but did not have a fortified roof, two officials told Reuters.

It was unclear if there were air defenses in place but no alarm apparently sounded as the drone approached, one of the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

-Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali/Reuters