An exclusive investigation by The Washington Post published on Friday revealed that the number of U.S. military personnel killed in the war against Iran is higher than what the Pentagon has publicly acknowledged, according to six officials with access to internal Department of Defense data.
According to the newspaper, at least 22 soldiers have died since the onset of the conflict, four more than the 18 listed in the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS), the Pentagon's public database.
A sixth official consulted by the Post raised that figure to 23 dead. In addition to the fatalities, the DCAS reports over 820 soldiers injured in combat since hostilities began.
The conflict began on February 28, 2026, with Operation Epic Fury, a joint offensive by U.S. and Israeli forces against Iranian targets. Since then, transparency regarding casualties has been a constant source of controversy: the Pentagon initially denied any fatalities following the first attacks, then confirmed six soldiers had died in Kuwait between March 1 and 3, and another six crew members of a KC-135 tanker plane who died in Iraq on March 13.
In July, four more military personnel lost their lives in Jordan and Iraq. Donald Trump presided over a solemn ceremony at Dover Air Force Base on July 22 to receive the remains of those four fallen soldiers, including Private Isabella Gonzales, 19 years old, and First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25.
CNN Español also reported that the Pentagon had quietly modified its accounting of casualties on several occasions throughout the conflict, which reinforces doubts about the accuracy of the official figures.
The reaction from Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, was immediate and furious. On his X account, he described the report as "disgusting and false" and labeled it "a complete lie," adding that the Washington Post is "worse than Iranian state media."
The newspaper responded through its spokesperson Olivia Petersen: "We support this exclusive report, which cites six U.S. officials familiar with the internal casualty accounting data of the Department of Defense. As noted in our story, the Pentagon declined to answer the Post's questions regarding the discrepancy in the count."
The exclusive comes at a time of increasing political pressure regarding the management of the war. Republican Representative Thomas Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth on September 15, alleging that he violated the 1973 War Powers Resolution by conducting military operations without sufficient authorization from Congress.
The approval rating of Trump dropped to a historic low of 33% in September, partly due to the rising fuel costs stemming from the conflict.
The vote on Hegseth's impeachment has been postponed following the decision by House Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, to advance the legislative recess until after the midterm elections on November 3rd.
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