Six U.S. service members were killed in U.S. military operations against Iran, U.S. Central Command said Monday afternoon.
The announcement comes a day after the military confirmed the deaths of three U.S. service members on Sunday, marking the first known American deaths since attacks on Iran began on Saturday, and just several hours after Central Command reported that a fourth U.S. service member had been killed.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, US Central Command said that as of 4:00 pm ET on Monday, six US service members “have been killed in combat,” adding that US forces “recently recovered the remains of two previously missing service members from a facility that came under attack during Iran’s initial attacks in the region.”
“Main combat operations continue,” the command said. “The identities of the fallen are kept hidden until 24 hours after notification to next of kin.”
Earlier Monday, Central Command said the fourth service member, who was not identified, “was seriously injured during Iran’s initial strikes and ultimately succumbed to his injuries.”
And on Sunday, the US military had said that three US service members had been “killed in combat” and five others were “seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury”, the joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters on Sunday that US troops had been killed at a base in Kuwait.
The US military also said Sunday that several additional personnel “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and are in the process of being returned to duty.”
Announcing the start of “Operation Epic Fury” on Saturday, Donald Trump said his administration was “taking every step possible to minimize the risk to American personnel in the region.”
But, he said, “the lives of brave American heroes can be lost and we can have casualties,” adding that “that happens often in war.”
“But we won’t do this for now,” Trump said. “We’re doing this for the future.”
In a video statement Sunday, Trump called the slain service members “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the just mission for which they gave their lives.
“We pray for the full recovery of the injured and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” he said. “And unfortunately, there will probably be more before it’s over. That’s the way it is, there will probably be more, but we’ll do our best when that’s not the case.”
“But the United States will avenge their deaths and deal the hardest blow to the terrorists who have waged war, basically, against civilization,” he added.
Michael Waltz, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, reposted the announcement of the three deaths on Sunday, saying, “Freedom is never free.”
During a press conference Monday morning, Pete Hegseth added that “as the president warned, an effort of this scope will include casualties.”
“War is hell and always will be,” the defense secretary said, adding that “a grateful nation honors the four Americans we have lost so far and the wounded, the best of America. May we carry out the rest of this operation in a way that honors them.”
Also on Monday morning, the US military said three US fighter jets were mistakenly shot down over Kuwait in an apparent “friendly fire” incident. The military said all six crew members were ejected safely.
Since Saturday, US and Israeli forces have carried out large-scale attacks across Iran, including the attack on the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli attack on Saturday. Iran has responded with retaliatory attacks, including launching missiles aimed at Israel and US military facilities in the region, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the Iranian Red Crescent emergency service, more than 500 people have died in Iran since Saturday. In Israel, authorities said 11 people had died.
And in Lebanon, the Health Ministry said 31 people had been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
During Monday’s press conference, Hegseth said the mission of “Operation Epic Fury” was to “destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons.”
“We are attacking them surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically,” he said.
The press conference came as Trump told the New York Times on Sunday that the United States and Israel could continue attacking Iran for “four or five weeks.”
According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday, just under a third of Americans surveyed said they approved of the attacks on Iran, while 43% of respondents disapproved of military action. About a third were unsure.
