The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet has suffered its ᴅᴇᴀᴅliest blow of the Iran war so far, with at least 21 American sailors and Marines killed after an Iranian missile strike tore into a logistics and command hub used by the fleet, defence officials say.

The attack began just after 4:00 a.m. local time, when Fateh‑class ballistic missiles and Shahed‑style drones launched from western Iran arced toward a coastal support facility tied to Fifth Fleet operations. Patriot and ship‑based defences intercepted several incoming threats, but one heavy warhead slammed into a pier‑side command compound and adjoining barracks, igniting fuel stores and ripping through prefabricated housing units.

Footage from the aftermath shows mangled vehicles, a collapsed operations building and rescue teams carrying blood‑streaked stretchers through smoke and twisted metal. Dozens of wounded were airlifted to regional hospitals as fire crews battled secondary explosions from ammunition and fuel. The Pentagon confirmed 21 ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and described others as “critically injured,” calling it “a dark day for the Fifth Fleet.”

Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard hailed the strike as “direct punishment of American aggression in support of the Zionist regime,” boasting that the target was a “nerve centre for attacks on Iran.” Washington insists the facility was a legitimate logistics hub guarding shipping lanes, vowing that those responsible “will feel the full weight of US power.”

For a region already on edge, the images of a shattered US naval outpost and flag‑draped coffins being prepared for repatriation underscore a grim reality: the Iran–Israel war has now claimed one of the heaviest American losses in years—and the pressure for a mᴀssive response has never been higher.