Berk Kutay Gokmen
22 July 2026•Update: 22 July 2026
Advanced Iranian missile capacity poses a “problem” for the US military in the Middle East amid Tehran's strikes on Gulf nations and American troops, CBS News reported Tuesday.
When Iranian missiles reach their targets, it means US and allied air defenses either failed to intercept them or failed to detect them in time, the report said.
After an Iranian strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan killed two US soldiers and left one missing, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "One leaked through," adding: "A missile got through. We shot down almost all the missiles. One leaked through … it's heartbreaking."
The report said that this was not an isolated incident. The same base had been struck twice in the previous 48 hours, with direct hits that wounded dozens of US personnel, according to CBS News.
Iranian precision-guided missiles repeatedly penetrated Jordanian and US missile defenses, while additional Iranian missiles and drones continued to be intercepted in subsequent attacks, the report said.
Asked how the missiles reached the base, US Central Command spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins declined to discuss the ongoing review, saying US and partner forces had "defeated dozens of missiles and drones launched by Iran toward neighboring Gulf countries on July 17, but unfortunately a few got through and made impact."
President Donald Trump also suggested others were responsible for the defensive failure, saying there were "other operators" at the base who "let something through."
He added: "They (Iran) did slip something through in Jordan, and we had other operators."
"We have the best equipment in the world, you know, we've stopped almost everything. But, when you let other people do your job with the United States, we let other people do the job, and sometimes it doesn't work out so well," Trump also said, without clarifying who those operators were.
The Pentagon later confirmed that nearly 100 US service members have been injured in Iranian attacks across the Middle East this month, excluding the latest deadly strike in Jordan.
Retired Jordanian Lt. Gen. Qasid Mahmoud attributed the growing effectiveness of Iran's attacks to improved missile technology. "The Iranians have advanced missile technology," he said, explaining they combine missiles and drones to overwhelm air defenses.
"The Iranians use simple missiles to distract the radar. They then fire better quality missiles, which change their final target in the last 30 or 40 kilometers (18-25 miles)," Mahmoud said, noting that these last-minute trajectory changes make interception far more difficult.
