Fourth US troop dies, 18 seriously wounded during Iran operations, military confirms

KUWAIT: The US military said on Monday, March 2, that four American service members have been killed and 18 seriously wounded during ongoing operations against Iran.

United States Central Command (CENTCOM) updated the casualty figures after previously reporting three deaths. 

Officials said the fourth service member died from injuries sustained in the initial attack. The casualties are linked to a strike in Kuwait during Operation Epic Fury, according to US officials.

Fourth service member dies from injuries; 18 listed as seriously wounded

CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said 18 service members are considered “seriously wounded” as part of the operation.

On Sunday, March 1, US Central Command said three American service members were killed and five seriously wounded. The toll was later revised to four dead.

In a Monday statement on X, CENTCOM said the fourth service member had been critically injured in Iran’s initial attacks and “eventually succumbed to their injuries.” US officials confirmed all four fatalities resulted from the same attack in Kuwait. 

The troops were assigned to a US Army sustainment unit based in Kuwait.

The Pentagon said the killed and injured would not be publicly identified until at least 24 hours after their families have been notified, in line with military protocol. 

Officials have not released further operational details about the strike or the broader tactical circumstances.

Khamenei’s wife dead; Minab casualties reported

On the Iranian side, state-affiliated outlets reported that Ali Khamenei’s wife, Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, died on Monday, March 2, after sustaining injuries in a US-Israeli strike in Tehran that killed her husband days earlier.

Iran’s ISNA News Agency said she had been in a coma following the attack.

Accounts from southern Iran described mass casualties after a strike on a girls’ elementary school in the city of Minab.

An internal medicine doctor at Hazrat Abolfazl Hospital told state news agency IRNA that children with severe injuries were brought in following the attack.

“Some had broken bones, some were burned, they had really severe wounds, they were alive though,” the doctor said. “When the building fell those people fell under the rubble.”

IRNA reported that at least 168 children were killed in the strike, citing a spokesperson for Iran’s education ministry.

An Israeli military spokesperson said they were “checking” reports of the attack. “Mothers were picking up their children,” the doctor added. “Most of the people they brought to the hospital were either already killed or on their way to martyrdom. Families were crying screaming, it was very heavy.”