Pentagon data now list 18 U.S. military deaths and 756 wounded service members connected to the Iran conflict, bringing total American casualties to 774 as renewed fighting and a disputed War Powers timeline continue.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The number of U.S. service members killed or wounded during the war with Iran has climbed to 774 after the Pentagon added 59 wounded troops to its official casualty figures in a single day.
The number of wounded personnel increased from 697 on Wednesday to 756 on Thursday, according to figures available Friday through the War Department’s Defense Casualty Analysis System.
The number of U.S. military deaths remained unchanged at 18.
Pentagon officials did not immediately provide an explanation for the increase in wounded personnel or disclose when and where the 59 newly recorded injuries occurred.
The Defense Department is now reporting Iran-related casualties under two separate classifications because the initial U.S. military campaign ended before large-scale hostilities later resumed.
Operation Epic Fury, launched Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran, accounts for 14 American deaths and 417 wounded troops.
An additional four deaths and 339 wounded service members are categorized as casualties from “overseas operations,” covering the period beginning July 7.
Together, the two categories account for the 18 fatalities and 756 wounded troops currently reflected in Pentagon data.
A Pentagon official told The Associated Press last month that the second classification was established because Operation Epic Fury had formally concluded and casualties resulting from the renewed hostilities would therefore be recorded separately.
The treatment of those casualty periods has broader legal significance because July 7 also marks the date President Donald Trump told Congress that American forces had resumed hostilities against Iran.
The Trump administration considers that resumption to have triggered a new 60-day period under the War Powers Resolution.
Some lawmakers dispute that interpretation.
Under the War Powers Resolution, a president generally must terminate U.S. involvement in hostilities after 60 days unless Congress has authorized the continued military operation.
Questions surrounding the Pentagon’s casualty accounting have also drawn political and media scrutiny.
The Hill reported that news organizations and Democratic lawmakers had previously raised questions after the number of service members listed as killed or wounded in the Pentagon database declined.
The latest update moves the total in the opposite direction, adding dozens of wounded troops without an immediate public explanation of the circumstances surrounding their injuries.
Four service members killed since fighting resumed in July have been publicly identified.
Army 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25; Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19; and Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, were killed July 17 during an attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, according to Stars and Stripes.
Army Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, died the following day at Irbil Air Base in Iraq.
Swinton was killed during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance recovered from an Iranian drone that had been shot down.
The higher casualty figures are emerging as the Trump administration shifts additional attention toward economic pressure following another failure to reach a permanent settlement with Tehran.
A 60-day deadline for achieving a lasting peace agreement expired without a deal, and Trump announced Wednesday that the United States would intensify its economic campaign against Iran.
The president described the next phase as the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER.”
“This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” Trump said.
The announcement indicated that Washington intends to place greater emphasis on financially isolating Tehran even as U.S. forces remain engaged in the region and military casualties continue to accumulate.
Iran has signaled that it is not interested in another short-term cessation of hostilities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that Tehran would not accept another temporary ceasefire and instead wants an agreement that formally ends the war.
Trump said the same day that no negotiations with Iran were underway or scheduled.
The Pentagon’s updated figures now show 774 American troops killed or wounded across the two phases of the conflict, with the majority of casualties consisting of service members injured during combat and related operations since the war began in February.
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