Pentagon Revises Iran Conflict Casualties Following Senate Inquiry

The United States Department of Defense updated its Defense Casualty Analysis System to report an increase in U.S. troop casualties from the conflict with Iran that began on February 28. The revised data indicates 18 U.S. service members have been killed and 624 wounded, a sharp increase from the previous wounded count of 482. The update also restored records for four deceased service members and established an Overseas Operations category for casualties recorded since July 7.

These revisions follow a period where casualty figures briefly declined despite continued Iranian strikes, drawing criticism from media outlets and lawmakers. Twelve Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee formally requested an explanation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth regarding the discrepancies.

Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez attributed the errors to "temporary data disruptions on the (DCAS) website."