Iranian attack on Saudi base wounds at least 10 US troops and damages several planes

WASHINGTON —Two U.S. sources who know about the situation say that an Iranian missile attack on Friday hurt at least 10 U.S. service personnel and damaged several planes at a military installation in Saudi Arabia.

One of the officers reported that two of the soldiers were hurt badly. Officials, who asked to remain anonymous so they could talk about sensitive military issues, stated that the strike on Prince Sultan Air Base destroyed multiple U.S. refueling planes.

The attack, which used an Iranian missile and drones, happened the day after President Donald Trump stated Iran had been "obliterated" and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that "never in recorded history has a nation's military been so quickly and so effectively neutralized."

Iran has attacked Prince Sultan Air Base before. On March 1, an attack on the base hurt Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, who died a few days later. He is one of the 13 service members who have died in the war.

People have released satellite pictures online that seemed to show the damage to the plane from the most recent attack. The Wall Street Journal has already reported on the attack.

Earlier on Friday, U.S. Central Command claimed that more than 300 soldiers had been hurt in the month-long war. Most of the injured have healed and gone back to work, but 30 are still out of action and 10 are thought to be critically hurt.

The Trump administration sent Iran a 15-point plan for a possible truce, with Pakistan acting as a middleman.

Iran has denied any talks are going on, but its grip on the Strait of Hormuz has caused fuel prices to spike and the international economy to go into a tailspin. However, Tehran stated on Friday that it will help humanitarian goods and agricultural shipments get across the important waterway.

The Pentagon is getting ready to send at least 1,000 men from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the next few days. This battalion is prepared to parachute into hostile or contested area to seize crucial terrain and airfields.

The military is also sending two Marine units to the area, which will bring in around 5,000 Marines and thousands more sailors.

On Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the United States "can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops," even if hundreds of extra troops are going to the area.

Rubio told reporters following the Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in France that "we are always going to be ready to give the president the most options and the most chances to adapt to any situations that may arise."