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The U.S. military announced Sunday that three American service members were killed and five others were seriously wounded during U.S. attacks on Iran, the first U.S. casualties reported in a major offensive that President Donald Trump has said could lead to additional losses. The announcement came as Iran retaliated for joint strikes by the U.S. and Israel.
U.S. Army soldiers deployed to Kuwait were among those killed, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity. The report said the soldiers were assigned to a unit that oversees supplies and logistics, but the military did not publicly provide details on when and where the deaths occurred.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. operations in the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X while the conflict unfolded. Central Command did not specify the location or timing in the post as the report described retaliation and continuing military activity across the region.
In the same announcement period, Central Command said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and that they were going to return to duty. Central Command also said it would withhold the identities of the service members killed for 24 hours after their families were notified.
Trump addressed the casualties directly, saying in a video posted to his Truth Social platform that he and the U.S. would keep operating despite the losses. “We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” Trump said, adding that “there will likely be more before it ends,” in comments presented in the report.
In the roughly six-minute video, Trump called those killed “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation” and said the U.S. will avenge their deaths. The report also said Trump had previously warned that American troops could be killed or injured in the operation.
The deaths came after U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders, according to the report. It said Iran’s counterattacks have targeted U.S. bases in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
The report also addressed a dispute over maritime damage. The U.S. military denied Iranian claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was struck with ballistic missiles, saying on X that the “missiles launched didn’t even come close.”
Central Command described the situation “as fluid,” and the report said Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard had threatened its “most intense offensive operation” targeting Israeli and American military installations. Before the strikes, Trump had built what the report described as the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades, including the dispatch of the USS Gerald R. Ford and guided-missile destroyers to the region.
The report further connected the U.S. posture in the Middle East to other recent operations, including the Ford’s involvement in a January raid in Venezuela that captured leader Nicolás Maduro. It said the January operation claimed no American lives but left seven U.S. troops with gunshot wounds and shrapnel-related injuries, and it cited Trump’s description during a State of the Union address that Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover piloted a Chinook helicopter during that raid.