A US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Photo / AFP, US Centcom, US Navy
The deaths of three United States troops and the wounding of five others have quickly heightened concern about the Pentagon’s ability to protect its personnel.
They are the first known American casualties in the US-Israel attack on Iran.
An unspecified number of troops also sustained “minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and are in the process of returning to duty, according to a statement from US Central Command, which oversees operations in the region.
The three slain Americans were part of a sustainment unit in Kuwait, two US officials told the Washington Post. One of the officials said the three troops served in the Army.
The military’s official statement on the deaths did not specify where the service members were killed, a deviation from the Defence Department’s traditional notification procedures when announcing US combat fatalities.
The secrecy underscored how fraught the situation has become for service members deployed in the Middle East as Iran attacked US facilities and interests in half a dozen countries following the death on Saturday of its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Spokespeople for the Pentagon and Central Command declined to comment for this article.
The three fatalities - in its statement, Central Command referred to the fallen troops as “killed in action” - return the US to a familiar footing in the Middle East, where successive US administrations prosecuted costly, devastating wars over the 20 years that followed 9/11.
In announcing the start of the attack on Iran, US President Donald Trump acknowledged the possibility that American lives may be lost, saying: “That often happens in war”.
In a video statement released by the White House today, the US President praised the three troops who “made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation” and said that “sadly, there will likely be more before it ends”.
He told the Daily Mail that the campaign could last for four weeks.
Numerous US facilities throughout the region have come under attack since US and Israeli forces began attacking targets in Iran - a mission, Trump has said, that is intended to topple the theocratic Government in Tehran and destroy its military capabilities.
Central Command said today that US forces have destroyed more than 1000 targets so far, including naval ships and submarines, missile sites, communications links and the command and control centres for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The astonishing figure after less than two days of military operations reflected what one US official described as a “very aggressive” effort to knock out as many of Iran’s capabilities to launch missiles and drones as quickly as possible. Like others, this person spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Still, military officials in US operations centres tracked “dozens and dozens” of missiles and attack drones launched by Iran, said another person familiar with the situation.
“Iran is in full retaliation,” this person said.
The vast number of retaliatory attacks - and the array of sites being targeted, including non-military sites in Arab nations across the Middle East - is concerning after so much of the regime’s top leadership was killed, this person continued.
Officials are worried about the command and control of those weapons, the person added.
Inside the Pentagon, and among some members of the Trump Administration, there was deepening concern today that the Iran conflict could spiral out of control, said people familiar with the situation.
“The mood here is intense and paranoid,” one person said.
There is anxiety among senior leaders that the fighting will extend for weeks, further stressing limited US air defence stockpiles, people familiar with the situation said.
“There is concern about this lasting more than a few days,” said another person.
“I don’t think people have fully absorbed yet, like, what that has done with stockpiles,” they added, noting that it often takes two or three air defence interceptors to ensure that an incoming missile is stopped.
The House Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, Representative Adam Smith (Washington) said this operation will force the US to further expend munitions supplies that are already strained.
“At this point, it’s on. It’s not like we can say: ‘Hey, Iran, we’re out of missile defence systems now so we’re going to pause for a moment. Is that okay?’ It will stretch our ability to defend everything that we need to defend,” Smith said, characterising US resources as “stretched thin”.
As the Post reported last week, the President’s senior military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine, warned the White House that munitions shortfalls and a lack of broad military support from other US allies would add considerable risk to any operation in Iran and to the US personnel put in harm’s way.
The US has a vast amount of firepower in the region, including nine destroyers capable of shooting down missiles.
But videos circulating online show that one of the other major threats US troops face is from Iran’s fleet of Shahed drones, which fly slow and low, and are not optimal targets for US air defences.
Trump has said in multiple social posts since the operation began that he is committed to a long-term military operation against Iran.
Unlike the precision operation in June targeting Iran’s nuclear programme, the US President has said “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue for days, uninterrupted, “to achieve our objective of peace” throughout the Middle East.
The descriptions of shrapnel and concussions noted in Central Command’s statement point to missiles or drones, which produce blast injuries.
While US and regional allies have intercepted much of the incoming fire, some attacks have broken through, including numerous salvos that blasted a US naval base in Bahrain.
In 2024, three US soldiers were killed and others wounded in a drone attack on their base in Jordan.
Commanders and personnel failed to properly detect and intercept an Iranian-made drone that smashed into the troops’ living quarters.
Investigators later found senior leaders denied a request to position an air defence system there.
- Noah Robertson and Laura Meckler contributed to this report.
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.