John Kleiner is one of 13 US soldiers killed in Operation Epic Fury, the name the Pentagon has given to the war in Iran, CNN reported in a report on US casualties in the military operation.
On February 28 of this year, the US and Israel launched large-scale joint strikes against Iran.
Kleiner died along with five other crew members who were aboard a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker tanker when it crashed on March 12 in western Iraq.
Earlier that month, six other service members were killed on March 1 after an Iranian strike on the port of Shuaiba in Kuwait. A service member died on 8 March after Iran attacked the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
“If any of their deaths mean anything – then please don't look away. Military lives are not for waste. The people who decide when and where we fight are accountable to us“, wrote Jean Marie Dillon, John Kleiner's aunt, in a Facebook post, bTV reports.
US President Donald Trump said that his meeting with some of the families of the fallen soldiers did not make him regret starting the war.
Trump and senior military officials have made it clear that there will likely be more casualties.
Approximately 400 service members were injured during Operation Epic Fury, said Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the US Central Command. Most of the injuries were minor, and 90 percent of the service members have returned to duty, Hawkins said.
At least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran since the United States and Israel launched strikes against the country, according to Iranian state media. One of the strikes killed nearly 170 children.