An F/A-18E Super Hornet lands on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury against Iran on March. 1, 2026. (U.S. Central Command)
Two more U.S. service members have died as part of Operation Epic Fury against Iran, raising the toll to six as of 4 p.m. ET Monday, U.S. Central Command said.
“U.S. forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran’s initial attacks in the region,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
The identities of the service members are being withheld until next of kin can be notified.
Earlier Monday, CENTCOM said a fourth individual was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks later died from their injuries.
On Sunday, CENTCOM announced that three U.S. service members were killed in action.
A total of 18 service members had been seriously wounded during the operation as of Monday afternoon, CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the offensive in Iran will not turn into another “endless war,” batting down comparisons to Iraq while also declining to give a definite timeline.
“As the president warned, an effort of this scope will include casualties,” Hegseth said. “War is hell and always will be.”
The casualties occurred as a result of a projectile that managed to evade air defense systems and hit a fortified tactical operations center, Hegseth said. He did not specify where the attack occurred, but reporting from NBC and the Washington Post indicate it was in Kuwait.
Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered his condolences to the families and friends of the fallen service members while echoing Hegseth’s warnings about additional casualties.
“The military objectives that CENTCOM and the Joint Force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve, and in some cases, will be difficult and gritty work,” he said. “We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize U.S. losses. But as the secretary said, this is major combat operations.”
President Donald Trump, during a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House on Monday, said the U.S. military continues large-scale combat operations in Iran. He reiterated that the objectives are to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, destroy Iran’s Navy and ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.
On Monday afternoon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill that while “we would love to see the (Iranian) regime replaced ... the objective of this mission is the destruction of their ballistic missile capability.”
Destroying Iran’s one-way attack drones and navy also are priorities, Rubio said.
Contributing: Stars and Stripes reporter Lara Korte.
