What we know about US soldiers killed in Iran war, and Iranian casualties

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkTrump: Latest strikes on Iran 'in honour' of killed US military personnelBy Sarah ShamimPublished On 20 Jul 202620 Jul 2026The United States military said on Sunday that a US service member was killed on Saturday in northern Iraq, where US forces are based.The US Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for operations in the Middle East, said the soldier died during a controlled detonation of what it called unexploded ordnance on a downed Iranian attack drone.How many US soldiers died in the Iran war?The latest casualty announcements increased to 17 the number of US military personnel killed since the war began, and at least 420 wounded — with at least one missing.The war began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran and the Iranians retaliated, hitting US military assets in the Gulf.First phase of warBefore the US and Iran signed their memorandum of understanding (MoU) on June 17 to extend their ceasefire and continue peace talks, the US military confirmed 13 combat-related deaths across the region. They included six crew when a US refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq in early March.Additionally, one service member died of a “health-related incident” in Kuwait.Latest crossfireThe MoU triggered a 60-day negotiation period. While ceasefire negotiations remained precarious, hostilities largely subsided until July 7, when the latest crossfire began.The US and Iran have traded attacks since then. On Sunday night, the US announced it had concluded its ninth consecutive night of attacks against Iran. Iran hit back with ballistic missiles hitting US transport planes at Aqaba airport in Jordan.The US military said earlier on Sunday that two service personnel died in Jordan and a third was missing in action.Also on Sunday, CENTCOM said that “unidentified remains” had been found at the site of Friday’s attack and that “an examination process to verify the remains is ongoing”.What are the names of US soldiers killed?While the US has not officially released the names of all 17 of the personnel killed in the Iran war, the US defence department on Monday released the names of two of them.Tyler James Feehan, 25, was killed on Saturday and Isabella Gonzales, 19, died on Friday during an attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. The “incident” is under investigation, the military said.On March 14, the Department released the names of six air force personnel who were killed during the refuelling incident in Iraq two days earlier: John Klinner, 33; Ariana Savino, 31; Ashley Pruitt, 34; Seth Koval, 38; Curtis Angst, 30; and Tyler Simmons, 28.On March 3, the department announced that Cody Khork, 35; Noah Tietjens, 42; Nicole Amor, 39; and Declan Coady, 20, died on March 1, 2026, in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, during an unmanned aircraft system attack. On March 4, it announced that Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, also died on March 1 in Port Shuaiba. On March 11, the Department said army reserve soldier Robert Marzan, 54, died during the same attack.Benjamin Pennington, 26, died on March 8 of injuries sustained on March 1 during an attack at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi ArabiaHow has the US reacted?President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the deaths of the US soldiers in the Iranian attack on Jordan on Friday were “a very sad thing”.“We’re never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” he added.Trump said later that the US is hitting Iran “very hard” to honour service members who have been killed.“We hit them very hard again tonight,” Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington from the World Cup final.How do Americans feel about the war?A poll conducted by Reuters and Ipsos late last month found that only about one in four Americans believed Trump’s war with Iran was worth its costs.Most respondents expressed concern about the economic and security fallout.When else have US soldiers been killed in the Middle East?On January 28, 2024, three US soldiers were killed and more than 40 wounded in a drone attack on the ‘Tower 22’ site on the Jordanian–Syrian border.On November 4, 2016, three US soldiers from the 5th Special Forces Group were killed and another wounded when Jordanian Sergeant Maarek Sami Abu Tayeh opened fire on them as they were entering King Faisal Air Base in Jordan. They had been working as part of a programme to train Syrian fighters under US supervision.On November 9, 2015, when a Jordanian officer opened fire inside the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center, killing five people: two American contractors working in security training programmes, two South African security personnel, and a Jordanian trainer. Jordanian security forces responded and killed the attacker.How do the deaths compare to other US wars?The death toll in the Iran war is a fraction of the thousands killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Seventeen soldiers have been killed in the Iran war, which has spanned 142 days.In the Iraq war spanning 3,195 days from 2003 to 2011, more than 4,400 US military personnel were killed.In the Afghanistan war, which lasted 7,267 days from 2001 to 2021, more than 2,400 US military personnel were killed.What about aerial conflicts?The US death toll in the Iran war is still relatively low, though higher than in previous air campaigns, such as Kosovo and Libya.In the 1999 Kosovo air campaign, which lasted 78 days, and the 2011 Libya air campaign, which lasted 227 days, the US recorded very few or no combat fatalities from enemy fire. Accidents were the biggest risk.The overall death tolls were in single digits or low double digits.What do we know about casualty figures in Iran?On July 18, Iran’s Health Ministry reported that at least 50 people were killed and at least 500 injured in US strikes in July.From when the war started until the MoU was reached in June, at least 3,468 people were killed in US-Israeli attacks on Iran. They were aged between eight months and 88 years and included seven infants, 376 older children and 496 women.During that time, more than 26,500 people were injured, including at least 4,000 women and 1,621 children.Several key members of the Iranian leadership have been killed during the war, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, senior security chief Ali Larijani, the Basij paramilitary commander Gholamreza Soleimani and several other senior Iranian commanders.