US President Donald Trump described the deaths of two US service members in Iranian attacks on Jordan as a “shame,” defending the recently renewed US-Iran hostilities during a phone call with the New York Post on Saturday.

Lamenting the loss of life, Trump told the New York Post that the service members “died because they don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon and they don’t want to see the Middle East blown up.”

He added that he planned to contact the families of the service members, telling the New York Post that he “always” does.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the soldiers as “heroes,” stating that their sacrifice will only stiffen the US’s resolve against Tehran in a Saturday X/Twitter post.

The Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks that killed the two service members injured four additional soldiers and left another soldier missing, according to a statement released by US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Saturday. 

CENTCOM carries out strikes in retaliation for deadly strikes on Jordan

In response to the attack, CENTCOM stated that an eighth consecutive night of strikes against Iran was carried out.

US forces struck Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites, in addition to targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces responsible for the deadly attack on Jordan.

In early March, shortly after the US began Operation Epic Fury, six US Army Reserve soldiers were killed during an Iranian drone strike on a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, marking the first US service members killed in the conflict with Iran.