WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Tuesday that about 140 U.S. service members have been wounded in the first 10 days of the war with Iran, sharply widening the known injury toll and underscoring the mounting human cost of the conflict, March 10. The broader figure surfaced after new reporting showed the number of wounded could be even higher, highlighting how casualty counts can climb as troops are screened, treated and tracked across multiple strike sites.
Reuters reported that two people familiar with the matter put the number of wounded at as many as 150 before the Pentagon publicly estimated the toll at about 140. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the “vast majority” of the injuries were minor, that 108 service members had already returned to duty and that eight remained severely injured and were receiving the highest level of care.
US troops wounded in Iran war: what the Pentagon said
The Pentagon has not publicly broken down the injuries by type, and Reuters said it could not immediately determine whether the total included traumatic brain injuries, which often take time to diagnose after repeated blast exposure. At the same time, The Associated Press reported that U.S. forces have now hit more than 5,000 targets in Iran and that seven American service members have been killed since the war began.
The new count also shows how quickly the war’s known toll has grown. Just days ago, the U.S. military announced its first casualties of the campaign, saying three troops had been killed and five more had been seriously wounded, while other personnel suffered shrapnel injuries and concussions. Tuesday’s wider Pentagon estimate makes clear that the number of wounded has risen far beyond those early disclosures.
In Washington, the updated toll immediately intensified scrutiny of the administration’s war plans. After a classified Senate briefing, Democratic lawmakers said they still lacked clear answers about the cost of the war, how long it could last and whether U.S. ground forces might eventually be sent into Iran.
Why the injury toll matters beyond one day’s briefing
The Pentagon’s revised figure has also revived memories of earlier Iran-linked attacks in which the full scale of U.S. injuries only became clear over time. After Iran’s missile strike on al-Asad Air Base in Iraq in January 2020, the Pentagon eventually said 109 U.S. service members had been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries, a tally that rose well above the initial public understanding of the attack’s impact.
A similar pattern emerged in Syria in March 2023, when a drone attack killed an American contractor and wounded six other Americans, prompting retaliatory U.S. strikes on Iran-aligned groups. And in January 2024, a drone strike on Tower 22 in Jordan killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded more than 40 troops, another reminder that casualty totals tied to Iran-backed attacks can broaden as medical evaluations continue.
What comes next
For now, Pentagon officials say Iranian strikes have fallen sharply as U.S. forces target missile launchers, naval assets and weapons stockpiles. But the latest wounded total suggests the war’s impact on U.S. personnel is still coming into focus, and the final number may not yet be settled if additional blast-related cases or delayed diagnoses are added in the days ahead.
