US Service Member Killed, Tensions Rise in US-Iran Conflict

0:00On March 9, Sergeant Benjamin N. Pennington, a 26-year-old from Glendale, Kentucky, has been named as the 7th U.S. service member, Killed. In the ongoing war with Iran, he was wounded in an Iranian strike at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 1, and died from those injuries on March 8, Pennington served with the first-space battalion at Fort Carson in Colorado. Just a day before his death was announced, President Trump attended the first dignified transfer ceremony of the conflict at Dover Air Force Base. He honored six Army reservists from Iowa's 13th Systemic Command, whose remains arrived from Kuwait. This marked his second such visit in his current term, following one in December for troops killed in Syria. The news hits amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Israel. Israeli forces struck 30 Iranian oil depots over the weekend, catching the Trump administration off guard and leading to the cancellation of, planned, U.S. Israel summit. White House officials worry the attacks will drive up gas prices, now averaging $3.40

1:02cents a gallon. Iran responded by naming Mochetaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the late supreme leader, as the new top cleric. His father died in a joint U.S.-Israeli air strike in Tehran on February 28, and reports say Mochetaba himself was wounded earlier in the mission, fighting. As oil prices hover around $103 a barrel after spiking higher, and with U.S. Navy actions in the Persian Gulf, the conflict shows. No signs of cooling, pulling in more global worries over energy supplies.