Nearly 100 US service members injured in Iranian strikes in July, Pentagon confirms

WASHINGTON, DC: The Pentagon has confirmed that nearly 100 United States service members have suffered injuries in multiple Iranian airstrikes on bases in the Middle East region this month.

The injuries come as the fragile months-long ceasefire between the US and Iran has collapsed, triggering a renewed surge in hostilities between the two countries.

For more than a week, US forces have carried out nightly strikes on Iranian targets, with Washington saying the operations are aimed at preventing Iranian attacks on commercial vessels. In response, Tehran has struck US assets across Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and other American allies in the region.

Pentagon says ‘majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions’

Confirming the number, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed in a statement that almost 100 people "were deemed to have some degree of injury since July 7, 2026," 96% of whom have returned to duty.

“They are determined to get back in the fight,” the statement continued, adding, “The vast majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions. Further updates will be posted on the Defense Casualty Analysis System. God is good!”

According to the Pentagon's Defense Casualty Analysis System, updated Monday, July 20, 427 US service members have been injured since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28.

This came as the Defense Department announced that two American soldiers were killed on a military base in Jordan. Officials revealed that 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan was killed in action on Friday, while Pvt. Isabella Gonzales was killed in action on Saturday amid Iran’s attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.

Another service member was killed in Iraq during a "controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone."

Trump has vowed to retaliate

President Donald Trump has vowed to retaliate for the deaths in Jordan and Iraq, insisting on Monday that he has issued a standing directive ordering the US military to retaliate every time Iran kills an American service member.

"Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!" he wrote in a Truth Social Post.

The commander-in-chief said that directive was delivered to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Dan Caine, and other military leaders.

His warning came on Monday, several hours after the US military said the strikes, conducted for the ninth consecutive night, had hit military and communications sites to "further diminish" Iran's attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said it had targeted sites in Bahrain and Syria, as well as US aircraft in Jordan. President Masoud Pezeshkian later declared that the country was engaged in a "full-scale war" with the US.

Tehran said diplomatic messages were still being exchanged by both sides through intermediaries, despite the collapse of the ceasefire.