Iran evades US defenses to kill and injure American soldiers – that’s not all “leaked.”

Amman, Jordan – If an Iranian missile hits its target, it is because US air defenses either failed to intercept it, or failed to see it coming in the first place.

“Something leaked,” is how Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Iranian attack on an air base in Jordan. he killed two US soldiers and one left missing on Friday. “A missile appeared. We shot almost all the missiles. One leaked … it’s sad.”

If that happens more than once, which we have last week in Jordan, that’s not a “leak.” That is a US problem

A similar base, Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, was hit twice in the 48 hours before Friday’s deadly strike. Direct hits. As CBS News reported on Monday, dozens of American soldiers were injured.

Iranian, precision-guided weapons have somehow managed to evade the Jordanian and US missile defense systems to reach their targets. Twice. And the attacks continue – several Iranian missiles and drones were intercepted by Jordanian forces on Tuesday.

When asked how Iran was able to hit the company with missiles on Friday, US Central Command spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins told CBS News that it would not be appropriate to comment as the incident is still being reviewed. He said US forces and allies “defeated a number of ballistic missiles and drones launched by Iran at neighboring Gulf countries on July 17, but unfortunately few were successful and had an impact.”

President Trump, speaking on Tuesday at the White House, revealed that there are “some operatives” in the Jordanian base who are “allowing something.”

“See [Iran] Something happened in Jordan, and we have other operators,” said Mr.

“We have the best equipment in the world, you know, we’ve stopped almost everything,” the president said. “But, if you let other people do your job with the United States, we let other people do the job, and sometimes it doesn’t work well.”

Mr. Trump did not provide further details about what “other operators” he was referring to or any role they had in protecting US troops in Jordan.

The Pentagon acknowledged Monday, after CBS News obtained the figures, that it is likely 100 American service members were injured in several Iranian strikes on bases in the Middle East this month alone. That does not include the latest round of attacks that killed at least two US soldiers and wounded dozens in Jordan.

One veteran regional military analyst told CBS News that part of the reason for the increase in American casualties is that Tehran has stepped up its game.

“The Iranians have advanced missile technology,” said Jordanian Lieutenant General Qasid Mahmoud, a former Deputy Chief of Staff in his country’s military before retiring. “They are developing techniques and capabilities to extend their reach, to integrate with drones to circumvent radar defenses.”

“The Iranians are using simple missiles to disrupt the radar,” Mahmoud, who has studied Iran’s military capabilities for years, told CBS News. “Then they fired missiles of better quality, which changed their final target to 30 or 40 kilometers.”

That change in approach, he said, makes it difficult to intercept missiles.

Despite hosting American forces, Jordan has largely avoided attacking Iran, with the Islamic State instead focusing its anger for months on America’s Persian Gulf allies, countries including Kuwait and Bahrain that have been the target of repeated attacks since the war began.

But US bases in those countries are much stronger, more protected compounds.

Bahrain, for example, is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, while Kuwait hosts nearly 13,000 US personnel at more than half a dozen bases. Even in Bahrain, however, Iran’s weapons have been overrun, including strikes earlier this year that destroyed a radar installation.

On the other hand, the Jordanian government is sensitive about acknowledging the presence of US troops.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs in Jordan, Ayman Safadi, emphasized that the US military does not have permanent bases in the country, saying many times that they work under joint agreements. That may suggest that the outposts where American forces operate in Jordan lack the kind of strong defenses used at permanent bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The two US soldiers killed in the strike at the Jordanian air base, Private Isabella Gonzales of Carrollton, Texas, and First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii, were both serving with the Army Air Missile Defense Command – a type of unit responsible for air defense systems.

CBS News’ Omar Abdulkader and Ayman Qadi contributed to this report.