Pentagon revises Iran war death toll to 21 after adding non-combat casualties

The US Department of Defense has revised its count of American service members killed during military operations against Iran.

The Pentagon updated its Defense Casualty Analysis System to add two non-combat deaths, bringing the official death toll from Iran-related operations to 21, the Washington Post reported Friday (local time). The two newly added casualties are Army National Guard Maj. Sophly Davious, 46, who died in Kuwait on March 6, and a Navy service member who died by suicide in September.

The Defense Department also reclassified Staff Sgt. Devin Seibel, 26, who died in a training accident in Iraq unrelated to Iran operations, as a casualty of operations against the Islamic State. That brings the total number of US military personnel killed in the Middle East since operations against Iran began on Feb. 28 to 22.

The number of wounded in Iran-related operations stands at 865.

The Washington Post said the confusion over the death toll is also tied to a change in how the Trump administration tracks casualties.

In past wars, non-combat deaths — including accidents and suicides — were counted alongside combat deaths under a single operation name. But after President Donald Trump declared an end to Operation Epic Fury earlier this year, even as fighting between the United States and Iran continued, the Defense Department began classifying some subsequent casualties under a separate overseas contingency operations category.

The Pentagon said it "maintains an unwavering commitment to accounting for all casualties in a transparent and accurate manner."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had earlier rebuffed media reports that the US military death count exceeded the Pentagon's official figures, calling them "a complete lie."

Questions about the true scale of American casualties have persisted in Washington. Reps. Adam Smith and Chrissy Houlahan — who lead the Democratic Party's side on the House Armed Services Committee and its military personnel subcommittee, respectively — said in a joint statement that the revised count was "inexcusable" and "an embarrassment."