Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to teach the United States “unforgettable lessons” on Saturday, July 18, 2026, just hours after the U.S. military reported its first troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the renewal of full-scale hostilities.
The U.S. Central Command announced on Saturday morning that two American service members were killed, one remains missing, and four others were hospitalized following a massive Iranian drone and ballistic missile strike on a military base in neighboring Jordan late Friday night. The identities of the deceased troops have not yet been released.
The lethal escalation marks a definitive collapse of the fragile, month-old interim peace agreement brokered between Washington and Tehran. In a written statement broadcasted on Iranian state television on Saturday, Khamenei fiercely criticized U.S. President Donald Trump, declaring the American leader’s signature on the memorandum of understanding to be “worthless and invalid.”
”Now that the American enemy seeks to incite war and bear its most serious consequences, it should know that the dear Iranian nation and the axis of resistance have unforgettable lessons to offer it,” Khamenei said in the broadcast.
The statement coincided with an announcement by Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who confirmed on state television that Tehran is officially suspending all commitments under the interim deal. Gharibabadi cited intensifying U.S. airstrikes over the past week which Tehran claims struck critical civilian infrastructure including a railway station, an airport, and multiple bridges—as the catalyst for the pullout.
In a parallel briefing in Tehran, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to the Supreme Leader, warned that Iranian forces are prepared to resume “full-scale offensive operations” across the region. “Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses,” Rezaei stated.
With the collapse of the preliminary peace framework, U.S. military officials reported that the total number of American service members killed since the conflict initially erupted earlier this year has risen to 16, alongside more than 430 wounded. Pentagon officials in Washington stated that coalition forces in Jordan and the wider Gulf region remain on high alert as they brace for potential follow-up strikes from both Iranian military units and regional proxy networks.
