As many as 150 US troops have been wounded in the Iran war.
The figure, disclosed to Reuters on Tuesday, is far higher than the Pentagon‘s previously acknowledged tally of eight seriously wounded.
US Central Command defines ‘seriously wounded’ as those facing imminent death or who might die from their injuries.
Seven US service members have been killed after Donald Trump launched strikes against Iran on February 28.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The human toll comes amid mounting concerns over the financial cost, the Pentagon having burned through $5.6 billion worth of munitions in the first two days of the war.
Gas prices have rocketed to an average of $3.5 per gallon from $2.9 before the war began, as oil prices hit levels not seen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Trump has said he is hoping for a swift end to the war, with advisers privately urging him to look for an exit ramp.
President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida, on March 9
A US Army carry team moves a flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien at Dover Air Force Base March 7, 2026 in Dover, Delaware
A body is carried by rescuers after a blast struck Ferdowsi square in central Tehran, Iran on March 3
‘We’re way ahead of schedule,’ Trump told reporters in Florida on Monday, adding he thought the war would be over ‘very soon.’
Oil prices retreated late Monday and into Tuesday as Trump backed away from his maximalist regime-change demand of ‘unconditional surrender’ issued last week.
The stock market ticked up slightly in volatile trading as investors attempted to keep up with the president’s rapidly changing positions.
‘We want a system that can lead to many years of peace, and if we can’t have that, we might as well get it over with right now,’ Trump said.
He said he was not pleased with the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Iran’s new supreme leader.
Trump will not stop fighting until he can claim a victory, a senior administration official told the Wall Street Journal, particularly as the US holds the upper hand.
Advisers told the President to discuss plans to extract US troops from the war and sell the idea that America’s aims had been achieved.
Officials expressed concerns that a protracted war will erode conservative support.
A US Air Force B-1 Lancer bomber takes off from RAF Fairford in south-west England on March 10
A body is carried from the rubble following an air strike in Ferdowsi square in central Tehran, Iran on March 3
Anxious Republicans called the White House on Monday as oil prices went flying up to more than $100 a barrel.
‘When the price of gas and oil rise, so does everything else. Given affordability was already an issue, this leads to real challenges,’ said Stephen Moore, an outside economic adviser to Trump.
Trump’s top team in recent days concluded it needed to pursue a more aggressive communications strategy to convince the public of its motivations for the war.
