Prince Sultan

A seventh U.S. soldier has been killed in action during combat in Iran, less than 24 hours after the remains of six service members returned to the United States. The six died in a March 1 Iranian drone attack against a command center they were stationed at in Kuwait. The seventh was killed in Saudi Arabia. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI | License Photo

March 9 (UPI) — The U.S. military identified the seventh soldier killed in the fighting against Iran as Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky.

Pennington was injured during an attack on U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1 at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and later died. He was assigned to 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade, a unit within Army Space and Missile Defense Command.

“Last night, a U.S. service member passed away from injuries received during the Iranian regime’s initial attacks across the Middle East,” U.S. Central Command said in a post on X.

The seven service members have been killed during the first week of Operation Epic Fury, which the United States and Israel launched on Feb. 28.

Since the beginning of the onslaught, Iran has launched retaliatory strikes at its neighbors, some of which host U.S. bases and assets that are being used in the war.

A March 1 retaliatory strike on an Army sustainment unit based in Kuwait killed six service members and injured 18 others, whose remains returned to the United States on Saturday.

Overall, Iran’s retaliatory strikes have killed at least 20 people across the region, The New York Times reported, while between 800 and 1,300 hundred people in Iran have died during the widening conflict.

March 3 (UPI) — Suspected Iranian drones have struck the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said early Tuesday, as the United States orders all non-emergency personnel to evacuate Bahrain and Kuwait amid Tehran’s continued retaliation strikes targeting U.S. assets and Israel.

Two drones struck the embassy, igniting “a limited fire” and causing “minor material damage” to the building, the ministry said in a statement.

The embassy confirmed in a statement that it had been attacked, urging people to avoid the facility. It said the mission was closed on Tuesday, and urged U.S. citizens throughout Saudi Arabia, but especially in the cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran, to shelter in place.

The Saudi Defense Ministry later said it had intercepted and destroyed eight drones near Riyadh and Al-Kharj.

Asked what the U.S. response to the attack would be, President Donald Trump told NewsNation, “You’ll find out soon.”

Saudi Arabia is a U.S. ally and home to several American assets, including the U.S. Embassy and Prince Sultan Air Base, as well as other U.S. military facilities.

Since the United States and Israel began attacking Iran early Saturday, the Islamic regime has launched a barrage of missiles and drones targeting Israel as well as U.S. assets throughout the region.

Along with Saudi Arabia, Iran has attacked Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. At least six U.S. service members have been killed so far, all in Kuwait, where three U.S. fighter planes were also downed by Kuwait’s aerial defense weapons system in what is being called friendly fire.

The State Department on Tuesday ordered non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their families to leave Bahrain and Kuwait, according to statements published by their respective embassies.

On Tuesday, the State Department urged Americans throughout the Middle East to leave.

In a 4 p.m. EST statement from Assistant Secretary Mora Namdar, Americans in 14 Middle Eastern countries were told to “DEPART NOW.”