Middle East

Time - Democratic lawmakers are demanding an immediate end to renewed hostilities between Iran and the United States. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is leading the calls, saying that  “the reckless and costly war of choice in Iran has been a disaster" for the American people following the deaths of three U.S. service members 

NBC - President Donald Trump, angered by the deaths of three U.S. service members since Friday, has vowed revenge on Iran as the war between the two countries enters a dangerous and murky new phase. A senior White House official described the state of play as a “time of ambiguity,” with an April ceasefire collapsed and the “memorandum of understanding” that both sides signed last month in tatters.

U.S. Central Command announced a new round of attacks yesterday afternoon. Also yesterday, the Defense Department identified two soldiers killed in Iranian strikes in Jordan as 25-year-old Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii and 19-year-old Isabella Gonzales of Texas. A third U.S. service member was killed in a separate attack in Iraq. 

The sudden uptick in the pace and ferocity of the conflict spells trouble for Trump, as a war of his choosing threatens to become both a military and a political quagmire.

Trump faces an Iranian regime that doesn’t need to defeat the U.S. so much as survive to fight another day. But he won’t let Iran’s strikes go unpunished, a White House official said. At home, he faces an American public that wants assurances that the end is in sight. 

More on the complicated and limited options for ending the war.

NPR - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee today, as the White House seeks nearly $90 billion in funding, mostly for military operations in Iran. Lawmakers will have the rare opportunity to grill him about the conflict, especially since the Pentagon hasn't updated the press since May. The meeting coincides with President Trump’s visit to Dover, Maryland, to recover the bodies of two soldiers who were killed in Jordan last Friday.

The Defense Department has been slow to share information on casualties, a U.S. military official not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to NPR. A hundred servicemembers have been injured in the last two weeks, a Pentagon spokesperson said this week. Concerns in Congress are mounting over the rapid depletion of U.S. munitions, an issue likely to be raised to Hegseth today, NPR’s Quil Lawrence says. The Pentagon's inadequate communication has tarnished trust and credibility among the American public, Congress and crucial regional allies who are facing Iranian attacks, three former military officials tell Lawrence.