By Enas Alashray, Hatem Maher and Michael Martina

WASHINGTON/CAIRO, July 19 (Reuters) - The United States launched new strikes against Iran, Central Command said, after it earlier announced that two U.S. military personnel were killed in Jordan and another was missing ​following an Iranian attack.

Before the strikes on Saturday, Iran's supreme leader said Washington would pay for "seeking to escalate the conflict."

Central Command said in a statement that the airstrikes began at 6 p.m. ET (2200 GMT), at President Donald Trump's direction.