More U.S. service members have died in the Middle East during President Donald Trump’s war with Iran than the administration has disclosed publicly, a bombshell new report has revealed.
Six Defense Department insiders familiar with the agency’s internal casualty accounting data told The Washington Post that there have been at least 22 military fatalities—four more than the 18 reported by the Pentagon on its Defense Casualty Analysis System.
One official pegged the death toll at 23 since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran in February. This source said not all undisclosed deaths were directly linked to the Middle East conflict but included U.S. personnel who were in the region amid the hostilities.
Three U.S. contractors based in the Middle East have also died since the war began, according to the same official.
The insiders expressed frustration that the other deaths were not reflected in the Pentagon’s public portal.
As of Friday afternoon, the database indicates that 14 service members have died during Operation Epic Fury, the Trump administration’s chosen name for the war. Four other deaths were categorized under Overseas Operations. Meanwhile, more than 820 have been wounded since the war began.
Two U.S. service members who died in the Middle East during missions unrelated to the Iran war were also not reflected in the Pentagon’s portal. Sgt. Devin Seibel died May 31 during a training incident in Iraq, and Maj. Sorffly Davius died March 6 in Kuwait after an unspecified medical emergency.
The improper accounting of military fatalities could affect surviving kin. Whenever a U.S. service member dies, the military launches a line of duty investigation that helps determine what survivor benefits their families are eligible for.
The Pentagon’s accounting also sparked outrage in July when it removed—then reinstated under a different category—the names of four service members killed in Iranian strikes that month. At the time, Pentagon spokespeople attributed the change to “temporary data disruptions” and said the matter would be “resolved.”
The White House referred the Daily Beast to the Defense Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time Hegseth’s Defense Department has been accused of covering up crucial information about U.S. military operations abroad.
Last month, NBC News revealed that hundreds of civilians were killed or injured by U.S. airstrikes in Yemen in 2025—but the Pentagon had yet to publicly acknowledge them or share a full account with Congress.
“In the coming months, the Department will submit its annual report regarding casualties resulting from United States military operations during the 2025 calendar year,” a Pentagon official told the outlet in August.
Trump has also repeatedly come under fire for how he speaks of fallen service members. In July, he made a Truth Social post that appeared to belittle the number of fatalities in the Iran war by comparing it to the much larger death tolls of previous conflicts. The president made similar comments again earlier this month.
Bereaved relatives also blasted Trump in July for appearing to put words into the service members’ mouths.
“They are indeed great heroes, actually,” Trump told reporters during a dignified moment. “They said, and they—all of them said very strongly, ’We can’t let, cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.’”
“It’s crystal clear to me that this is a disgraceful political stunt ahead of a major election,” author Karie Fugett, the widow of Marine Corps Corporal Jimmy Cleveland II, told HuffPost.
“The president knows his war with Iran is the most unpopular war in modern history, and he’s terrified of how that will show up at the ballot box,” she added. “It’s foul.”
