Criticism of Trump grows after death of US soldiers in Iran conflict

On Sunday, the US military also reported the death of another soldier in Iraq, who was killed on Saturday during the controlled detonation of a crashed Iranian drone. This raises the number of US dead in the conflict since the start of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran to a total of 17. CENTCOM, the military command responsible for the region, had announced in the early morning that the wave of attacks was over.

The US military described the new strikes as "punishment" for the deadly shelling of a US base in Jordan. After the Iranian navy fired on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the US Air Force bombed ammunition depots and missile positions on the Iranian coast overnight. The US is also, according to its own statements, destroying bridges in Iran and again attacking Iranian targets daily.

Iran Responds with Attacks on Gulf States

Iran in turn responded with missiles and drones against US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait as well as an air force base in Jordan. According to Iranian reports, the US military also bombed a nuclear power plant under construction. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is investigating the attacks on the Iranian nuclear facility. Israeli and Jordanian forces intercepted, according to their own statements, an Iranian missile aimed at the Jordanian resort town of Aqaba.

The economic consequences of the conflict are also intensifying. The Strait of Hormuz, central to international trade, is effectively closed, with oil tankers and container ships stranded in the Persian Gulf. US soldiers are stationed in several Gulf states and thus within range of Iranian drones and missiles. According to reports, Iran has also bombed seawater desalination plants in Kuwait.

Economic Consequences and Reactions in the Region

The Gulf states are, according to their own statements, actively seeking alternative export routes for their oil and gas. Zeidon al-Kinani, director of the Arab Perspectives Institute in Doha, spoke of an "economic catastrophe" in a conversation with ARD. Al-Kinani warned that if the conflict continued in this way, a semi-permanent war with endless strikes and counter-strikes, perhaps with brief pauses, would be looming.

In all Arab Gulf states, there is in the short term the desire to end the war. "The future means: after the war," al-Kinani said with a view to the long-term shaping of relations with Iran. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have also come into Iran's crosshairs. According to the ARD correspondent in Doha, the population is not yet falling into panic despite air raid alarms.

Criticism in the US Congress

Meanwhile, criticism of President Donald Trump is growing in the US Congress. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CBS News that it was remarkable there had not been even more casualties. Warner stated: "We literally have hundreds of seriously wounded." He accused Trump of having started the war without a plan and pointed out that "there was no immediate threat from Iran."

Warner, a member of the so-called "Gang of Eight" in Congress, sharply criticized the conduct of the war: "if you start a war of your own volition," that is the consequence. Other Democratic members of Congress joined the criticism of Trump's conduct of the war. Trump did not initially appear publicly on Saturday after the attack in Jordan.

The "Washington Post" quoted an unnamed US official as saying the US was preparing for a broader war. The same official, however, also emphasized that "We don't have enough to safely maintain the stakes, and I don't think the White House is aware of that." Dwindling weapons stockpiles are placing limits on an expansion of military operations.

Experts Warn of Miscalculation

A former Jordanian general in the studio in Doha told ZDF that one could expect hourly that the Americans would intensify their attacks. "These strikes could be of high intensity," he said. Significantly more intense than those of recent days. Trump has also announced a renewed naval blockade against Iran. US President Donald Trump has declared the war necessary, according to his own statements, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Political scientist Hasni Abidi does not consider a military solution promising. He told Al Jazeera: "If the military escalation aims to reduce Iran's influence on the Strait of Hormuz, then that is a miscalculation." Control over the Strait of Hormuz has by now become for the Iranians not only part of their own security doctrine but also their only trump card. According to Iranian reports, at least 50 people have been killed and more than 500 others injured in US attacks over the past three weeks.

On Al Jazeera from Qatar, the attacks on the Gulf states are again the top topic every evening. Sailors on attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz, foreign workers in attacked Gulf states, as well as people in Israel and Lebanon have also already fallen victim to the conflict. The White House has agreed that CENTCOM publicly release the deaths of the US soldiers.

The US is waging the war in Iran, as things stand, without a ground invasion. The framework agreement between the US and Iran to end the war is failing, according to the "Washington Post," because of the escalations in the dispute over control of shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. According to Deutschlandfunk, which broadcast the piece on 20 July 2026, the situation is serious.

ZDF correspondents also report a clear about-face by the US government in its handling of the conflict. The escalation since the beginning of the month had ignited at the Strait of Hormuz, which is of central importance for global energy trade. For more than a week, every attack has been followed swiftly by a retaliatory strike.