Six U.S. military service members have been killed by Iran's retaliatory strikes, according to multiple reports, while seven U.S. soldiers have been killed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia by retaliatory rocket and drone strikes from Iran. Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed since Iran initiated strikes following the outbreak of the conflict on 28 February, with around 200 U.S. troops wounded in the ongoing conflict as of the third week, the U.S. military said. Up to 150 U.S. soldiers may have been wounded in the war against Iran, according to two sources with insight who spoke with Reuters, and most U.S. injuries were minor, with 180 personnel already back on active duty, but ten injuries are considered serious, according to U.S. military's Central Command. Eight U.S. service members are currently 'severely injured,' Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed, and U.S. casualties were sustained across multiple locations in the region, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Israel, multiple reports indicate.
Over 13,000 targets were hit inside Iran, with over 10,000 flight missions completed, including 62 bombers, and the operation included 50,000 personnel, according to multiple reports, though Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces have hit more than 5,000 targets in Iran. The price tag on the six-week offensive is estimated to cost taxpayers roughly $35 billion, according to the American Enterprise Institute, while the war with Iran cost the U.S. over $11.3 billion in its first six days, Pentagon officials reported. About a dozen MQ-9 drones have been destroyed in the war, a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said.
A U.S. strike hit a girls' primary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, Iran, according to research from three sources, with the school located near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base, research from two sources indicates. A brewing scandal suggests the U.S. military was likely behind a February missile strike on a girls' primary school that killed over 150 people, multiple reports say, and at least 153 people, including children, died in the school strike, Iranian officials stated. The missiles destroyed a girl's primary school in Minab, killing around 150 and wounding almost 100, according to research from four sources, and the school was hit by three missile attacks, Red Cross/Red Crescent officials reported.
Iran blamed the U.S. and Israel for the school strike, and the U.S. violated international humanitarian law by failing to take feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm, Amnesty International said. The U.S. may have used outdated intelligence or failed to verify the target as military, according to Amnesty International, and targeting a school is prohibited under international humanitarian law, research from two sources confirms. U.S. Central Command said it was looking into reports of the school incident, while Israel's military said it was not aware of any IDF operations in the area of the school strike. Amnesty International called for U.S. authorities to ensure a transparent, thorough investigation into the school strike and make results public, and said those responsible for the unlawful strike must be held accountable.
'They (Iran) weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East,' he said. 'Nobody expected that. We were shocked.'
More than 1,000 civilians have been killed in the first five days of U.S.-Israeli bombings in Iran, including 181 children under ten, and at least 201 people have been killed in air strikes in Iran since Saturday, the Iranian Red Crescent reported. UNESCO expressed deep alarm and noted attacks on schools undermine the right to education, and UN officials condemned the military attacks and retaliatory strikes.
The United Arab Emirates reported two more deaths as nine drones struck the country, while nearly three dozen other drones and missiles were intercepted, multiple reports indicate, and firefighters battled a blaze in the industrial city of Ruwais after an Iranian drone strike, with no injuries reported, officials said. Iranian attacks on the United Arab Emirates have killed six people and wounded 122 others since the U.S. and Israel launched a surprise bombardment of Iran on Feb. 28, multiple reports say, and in Bahrain, an Iranian attack hit a residential building in the capital, Manama, killing a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight people, authorities confirmed. Bahrain's Defense Ministry says it has intercepted over 100 ballistic missiles and 175 drones since the war began, and sirens sounded in Jerusalem, and sounds of explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv as Israel’s air defenses worked to intercept barrages from Iran, multiple reports indicate. Hezbollah launched missiles into Israel after the start of the war, multiple reports say, and beyond military installations, Iranian attacks have also targeted diplomatic missions, hotels, airports, and critical energy infrastructure within Arab Gulf states, according to multiple reports.
The war began with airstrikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other leaders, according to HRANA, and Israel Defense Forces began broad scale strikes in Tehran. Pre-war intelligence assessments indicated that Iran’s retaliation against U.S. Gulf allies was a potential outcome, according to one source requesting anonymity, but President Trump said Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait were a surprise, multiple reports indicate.
Democratic lawmakers expressed significant dissatisfaction and anger following a Pentagon briefing, citing a lack of detail regarding the war's costs, reasons, goals, and methods, multiple reports say, and Democrats are advocating for public hearings with testimony from top administration officials, according to multiple reports. The conflict has led to U.S. troop fatalities, driven up oil prices, and negatively impacted U.S. stock markets, with Americans broadly unsupportive of the war, multiple reports indicate.
The war was 'very complete, pretty much' and that the US …
Oil prices have swung violently during the week after mixed messages from the White House created confusion on global energy markets, according to multiple reports, and the international benchmark Brent crude oil fell by 17 percent to under $80 per barrel on Tuesday, multiple reports say.
A third of respondents believe President Donald Trump's war against Iran has been a resounding victory, according to the latest Daily Mail/JL Partners survey, while just 13 percent called it a victory for Iran, and 24 percent said the conflict was a draw, with 30 percent remaining unsure. Half of respondents said the war was either probably or definitely not worth it, while 38 percent said the war is worth fighting, and nearly half of respondents believe that Trump has fallen short of his objectives in the military campaign, and the outcome is not a clear success. Thirty percent said Trump has achieved his desired outcome; just 52 percent of the President's supporters say the Republican has gotten what he wanted, and despite President Trump's repeated claim that the US has obliterated Iran's nuclear program, just 5 percent of respondents said they believe all the capabilities are destroyed. Only 6 percent think Iran's non-nuclear missile capabilities are destroyed.
The exact and verified number of U.S. service members killed and wounded in the conflict remains unclear, given conflicting reports from different sources, and who is definitively responsible for the missile strike on the girls' school in Minab, Iran, and what evidence supports the attribution has not been conclusively established. The full and accurate costs of the war to the U.S., including both immediate expenditures and long-term financial impacts, are still being assessed amid varying estimates.
What specific intelligence or targeting protocols led to the school strike, and why civilian casualties were not prevented, are subjects of ongoing investigation, and current diplomatic or ceasefire efforts, and any progress toward de-escalation between the U.S., Iran, and involved regional actors, have not been publicly detailed. U.S. authorities must ensure a transparent, thorough investigation into the school strike and make results public, Amnesty International said, and those responsible for the unlawful strike must be held accountable.
Regional stability faces significant challenges as the conflict expands, with implications for diplomatic efforts to contain further escalation and address humanitarian crises.