US President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran will pay “many times over” for any American troops killed amid ongoing hostilities in the Middle East.

Pentagon: three US deaths over the weekend

“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

This directive has been passed on to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Daniel Caine, and “every Leader in the Military,” Trump added.

The statement came as the US continued to carry out airstrikes against Iran, with the attacks largely focused on southern Iran. Tehran retaliated with strikes targeting facilities and bases that it says are used by the US military in several regional countries, Anadolu said.

The Pentagon confirmed three US deaths over the weekend, including two at a military base in Jordan and one in northern Iraq.

The exchange of fire between the two countries comes despite a Pakistani-brokered memorandum of understanding signed in June to end the war and reach a lasting peace deal.​​​​​​​

According to a report by CNN, the US and Iran have considered a 10-day ceasefire to halt hostilities in an effort to prompt a return to negotiations, with the cessation in violence also including lifting restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz.

The White House said that diplomacy was proceeding along with efforts to make Iran “pay” for the recent deaths of US soldiers.

“Right now, President Trump is focused on making Iran pay for their violations of the MOU (memorandum of understanding) and their continued acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz,” a US official said.

“In addition, the president will make Iran pay for the recent deaths of U.S. soldiers,” the official said. “These devastating blows will continue until the president deems otherwise, but talks between our countries are continuing.”

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Trump says Netanyahu ‘will not be arrested’ in US

In a separate post, Trump said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”

“He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others,” Trump added.

“The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented spiral of death and destruction, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has told The New York Times that his administration’s legal department is actively discussing the potential arrest of Netanyahu.

“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court. And what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”

Netanyahu recently postponed a US visit originally set for this month to September.

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