The Pentagon said on Tuesday that about 140 U.S. service members have been wounded since the U.S. war with Iran kicked off late last month.
“Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, approximately 140 U.S. service members have been wounded over 10 days of sustained attacks,” Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to The Hill.
The “vast majority” of these injuries have been “minor” and 108 service members have returned to duty, according to Parnell, who added that eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are getting the “highest level of medical care.”
When asked about a Reuters report that about 150 U.S. Service members have been injured, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that figure is “within that ballpark” and referred reporters to the Pentagon for more information.
The injury toll comes as over the weekend, the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) announced that a seventh U.S. service member has died in combat from serious injuries following the Iranian attack on U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia. Six other service members were killed in an attack on a makeshift U.S. military operations center in Kuwait.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. attacks on Iran would intensify on Tuesday and that the U.S. is “winning” the battle.
“Today will be, yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran. The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes. Intelligence more refined and better than ever,” the Pentagon chief told reporters during Tuesday morning’s briefing.
The war has also come with a hefty price tag as the Pentagon has churned through around $5.6 billion worth of munitions during the first two days of the conflict, a congressional source familiar with the matter told The Hill on Monday night.
Both President Trump and Hegseth have said more casualties are expected as the war continues. The Pentagon chief last week criticized the media for making the deaths of U.S. service members front-page news.
