Iran war death toll higher than Pentagon is claiming: reports
Democrats are demanding answers after reports more American soldiers died during the Iran war than the Trump administration had claimed.
The US has officially suffered 18 military fatalities in the Middle East since the beginning of the war with Iran.
Donald Trump has repeatedly said the war with Iran was about to end. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
But the Washington Post reported that four more service members have died than the administration claimed.
That brings the total death toll to 22.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, herself an Iraq War veteran, fumed at the revelation.
"The Pentagon hid four more heroes' deaths from us for months," she wrote on Bluesky.
"Congress cannot let them get away with this."
Duckworth lost both legs in 2004 when the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting was struck by an Iraqi insurgent's rocket-propelled grenade.
Congressman Gabe Amo also weighed in.
"It is utterly shameful and disrespectful to lie about servicemember deaths," Amo said.
"We must honour the ultimate sacrifice without consideration of politics."
Senator Elizabeth Warren described the alleged cover-up as a “betrayal”.
Mourners pose for photos near a banner set up in a main thoroughfare near the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, Iran. Getty Images
But Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth outright denied the report.
"This is DISGUSTING and FAKE. A complete LIE," Hegseth wrote on X.
“Shame on the Washington Post — they’re worse than Iranian state media.”
The Post reported that one of the deaths was described as a “training-related incident” in Iraq on May 31.
Another death in Kuwait on March 6 was described as "undetermined causes".
Iranian officials meanwhile have bragged online of the damage wrought by their attacks on US facilities.
“Fact: 100s of U.S. military sites blown to pieces; dozens of aircraft scorched,” Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
"We'll reveal it all in due course.
"For those who've sold lies about Iran, it won't be pretty."
Huge crowds gather for the burial of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Imam Reza Shrine in Iran. Getty Images
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has estimated the cost of the war with Iran at $A61 billion, according to reports.
At its current trajectory, the war will continue to cost $A4 billion more each month.
More than 830 American personnel have been wounded in the war with Iran, according to government reports.
Donald Trump has not directly addressed the Washington Post's reporting today, but made an implicit threat of banning them from the White House.
Trump announced he had banned CNN, MSNOW and Politico because he considered them "fake news".
He then warned that others would also be banned.
When asked who he was referring to, he mentioned the Post.
“The New York Times is fake news. Washington Post is fake news,” he said.
"They're crummy papers."
He described the Post as “disgusting”.
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