Pentagon adds 60 wounded to Iran war casualty count

A further 60 American service members wounded in the Iran war were added to the Pentagon’s count of military casualties in recent days, bringing the total number of service members killed or injured to 775.

The number listed as wounded rose from 697 on Wednesday to 757 on Thursday, according to the Defense Department’s Defense Casualty Analysis System. The number of deaths remained unchanged at 18.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond Friday to a request for more information about the increase, including when and where the injuries occurred.

The military has divided casualties from the war into two categories following a pause and subsequent resumption of large-scale hostilities with Iran.

The first, Operation Epic Fury, began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. It accounts for 418 wounded and 14 deaths, according to the Pentagon database.

An additional 339 wounded and four killed are listed under “overseas operations,” a category covering casualties since July 7.

A Pentagon official told The Associated Press last month that the latter category was created because Operation Epic Fury had concluded and that casualties associated with the renewed fighting would instead be recorded under the new designation.

The July 7 dividing line also corresponds with the White House’s treatment of the renewed hostilities as the start of a new 60-day period for purposes of the War Powers Resolution.

President Donald Trump notified Congress in July that U.S. forces had resumed hostilities against Iran beginning July 7.

By treating the fighting as a separate period of hostilities, the administration asserted that a new 60-day period had begun under the resolution, though that interpretation is disputed by some U.S. lawmakers.

The law generally requires the president to end U.S. involvement in hostilities within 60 days unless Congress provides authorization.

CNN first reported the increase in wounded troops Wednesday, before the Pentagon’s publicly available database showed an increase.

Among the most recent U.S. casualties of the Iran war are 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25; Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19; and Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28. All three were Army air defenders who died in an attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on July 17.

The following day, Army Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, was killed at Irbil Air Base in Iraq during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone.

On Wednesday, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he would target Iran with “the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country.” He did not provide many details.

The announcement came after a 60-day deadline set by both countries to reach a lasting peace agreement expired without a deal.

Iran’s state-run Foundation of Martyrs has reported 3,468 people killed as a result of U.S. and Israeli attacks, while the country’s health ministry puts the number wounded at more than 26,500.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that Tehran would not accept another temporary ceasefire and instead wanted a deal to fully end the war.

Trump said the same day that no talks with Iran were underway and that no new discussions had been scheduled.