Approximately 140 US troops wounded

Pentagon now says approximately 140 US troops wounded over 10 days of Iran war

The number is far higher than the Pentagon initially suggested.

By Steven Beynon

The Pentagon acknowledged Tuesday that the number of U.S. troops wounded in the war with Iran is far higher than it initially suggested in an unusual break from long-standing transparency norms about casualties in combat.

The Pentagon has long treated the public disclosure of casualty figures, including troops wounded in combat, as a core piece of its accountability to both the American public and the families of those who serve -- a practice which dates back to World War II. 

Since the start of the conflict, the Pentagon only disclosed the number of "seriously" wounded -- injuries that can be life-threatening, according to Defense Department medical regulations -- though it's unclear how the Pentagon defined it in its initial disclosure of injuries.  

But on Tuesday, the DOD acknowledged that at least 140 service members have been wounded by Iranian retaliation attacks since the war started 10 days ago, according to Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, adding in a statement that "the vast majority of these injuries have been minor." Of that, 108 have been returned to duty.

The acknowledgment came only after ABC News and other news organizations pressed the Pentagon about its casualty figures, as sources with knowledge of the situation said the number of wounded troops appeared to be significantly higher than what it had publicly disclosed.

"Eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care," Parnell said in the statement. 

Many of the most commonplace combat injuries are not inherently life-threatening, but can be crippling or otherwise life-altering, including traumatic brain injuries, a signature wound of contemporary conflicts due to blasts from improvised explosive devices and missile and drone attacks. 

After Iran launched 15 ballistic missiles at U.S. forces at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in January 2020, retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the first Trump administration initially said no troops had been injured.

That assessment was slowly revised by President Donald Trump, first minimizing the scope of the damage before ultimately acknowledging that 110 service members had been wounded, most suffering traumatic brain injuries, the kind of blast-related wounds that can carry lasting, life-altering effects.

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Seven service members have died so far during Operation Epic Fury, six of whom were killed in Kuwait in an Iranian drone attack, and one soldier in Saudi Arabia. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has consistently warned that more casualties should be expected.

"The president's been right to say there will be casualties," Hegseth said in an interview with the CBS New program "60 Minutes" on Sunday. "Things like this don't happen without casualties. There will be more casualties."